This pastiche of Ambrose Bierce's famous work is similar in
format to the Jargon File (and quotes several entries from
TNHD-2) but somewhat different in tone and intent. It is more
satirical and less anthropological, and is largely a product of
the author's literate and quirky imagination. For example, it
defines `computer science' as "a study akin to numerology and
astrology, but lacking the precision of the former and the
success of the latter" and `implementation' as "The fruitless
struggle by the talented and underpaid to fulfill promises made
by the rich and ignorant"; `flowchart' becomes "to obfuscate a
problem with esoteric cartoons". Revised and expanded from "The
Devil's DP Dictionary", McGraw-Hill 1981, ISBN 0-07-034022-6;
that work had some stylistic influence on TNHD-1.