Ambrose Bierce
“BORE, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary (1906)
Documented source
Attribution
Ambrose Bierce
Source
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary (1906)
In full
“BORE, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.”
Status
Public domain in the United States
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About this line
Bierce built his definitions from a lifetime of watching people, and the bore, he decided, isn’t defined by what he says but by his timing — he talks at precisely the moment you want him to listen. The whole joke is the reversal.
Why we carry this line
We’ve all been cornered by this exact person. Bierce nailed it in one sentence. And that’s why this definition, not a quote, made the cut.
Objects carrying this line
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