I have been called a curmdugeon, which my obsolescent dictionary defines as a "surly, ill-mannered, bad-tempered fellow." The etymology of the word is obscure; in fact, unknown. But through frequent recent usage, the term is acquiring a broader meaning, which our dictionaries have not yet caught up to. Nowadays, curmudgeon is likely to refer to anyone who hates hypocrisy, cant, sham, dogmatic ideologies, the pretenses and evasions of euphanism, and has the nerve to point out unpleasant facts and take the trouble to impale these sins on the skewer of humor and roast them over the fires of empiric fact, common sense, and native intelligence. In this nation of bleating sheep and braying jackasses, it then becomes an honor to be be labeled "curmudgeon."

Edward Abbey (1927-1989)
A Voice Crying In The Wilderness

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