The Devil's Dictionary was Ambrose Bierce's way of calling out all of the people in society who were to proper and prissy for the times. He wrote the Dictionary not to make people mad, but to get them to realize how silly they were acting. It made them see how they were. I personally found the Dictionary hilarious because of the way he thought the words should be defined. However, people might find it offensive because the words speak the truth and the truth hurts. He pointed out the flaws in society and I think that takes great courage to write about society like that. Bierce's honesty was what made the Devil's Dictionary so great; because of the controversy. If it weren't then no one would read it today. Some of my favorite words are:
BEAUTY, n.
The power by which a woman charms a lover and terrifies a husband.
CIRCUS, n.
A place where horses, ponies and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting the fool.
SAINT, n.
A dead sinner revised and edited.
ME, pro.
The objectionable case of I. The personal pronoun in English has three cases, the dominative, the objectionable and the oppressive. Each is all three.