RAREBIT

A "Dover Thrift Editions" of Ambrose Bierce's classic "The Devil's Dictionary" is the moral equivalent of a signed first edition of any Susan Polis Schutz book of poetry. The alternative was a $175 copy in the rare book room at John King Books in Detroit but I had no intention of spending more than $5. So here we are. I generally go with a word from the first page that I randomly open to but the definition of "Koran" wasn't offensive enough for me so I went with levity. At least I think I did. I'll have to look up several words and phrases unfamiliar to me before making a final determination. 

RAREBIT

n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humorless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad-in-a-hole is really not a toad, and that ris de veau à la financière is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker.

I still don't know what the hell he was talking about but it's very prosaic.



from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce