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Revenge is a dish best served cold

An old, widely used phrase expressing the sentiment that revenge that is delayed, and executed well after the heat of anger has dissipated, is more satisfying than revenge taken as an immediate act of rage.

It has been frequently been claimed on the Internet to have originated in the novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. In truth, however, there are two problems with the widely circulated quotation from that book. The first is that the phrase does not appear in the novel, or anything else that de Lacois wrote. The second problem is that the French quotation used as proof is linguistically erroneous; de Lacois would never have written the words attributed to him. Thus it bears all the hallmarks of an Internet "fact" for which someone invented an authentication that seemed plausible, knowing that it would rarely be verified.

The phrase has been in use since at least the 19th century, and at least one author's use of it back then expressed to the reader that it was an already existing dictum.

Of course, how long ago it came into being in the Klingon Empire would be an interesting subject for xenolinguistic research.
"Kirk, old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb, 'Revenge is a dish best served cold'?"
– Khan Noonien Singh in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"
by AkaSlasher July 18, 2015
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serving heat

act of busting a cap in one's ass
"straight servin your ass heat" S.C Cartel
serving heat in the streets with mah lil deuce deuce, pop pop
by Swoopa March 1, 2009
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Serial Shitter

Some kid at Dublin Jerome that keeps taking shits and then smears it on the the wall of the stalls. The suspect also shoves shit in the hand dryers so when you turn them on they shoot crap all over the place. On top of that they put the crap in the TP holder so you get shit on on your hands when you reach to get some. This person will probably be eaten alive by Parking Lot Pete
I heard the Serial Shitter struck again.
by ParkingLotPete2 November 5, 2010
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serving face

posing intensely in a photograph. Particularly working your face.
Commonly said by drag queens
"Yes girl! She was serving face!"
by muffin shoppe December 9, 2007
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Serene

shes the prettiest, smartest, and most accomplished girl I know. She wins hearts and awards all the time, and is a great person. Not so serene-calm though. But shes a great friend, and person!
That sweetheart? Must be Serene.
by srvanan18 August 22, 2012
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seritful

Used to decribe the mood somebody is in after all there "friends" turn against them and pay someone to anally abuse them for a whole year.
Liam is looking pretty seritful after that session with ollie.
by Chris "the daddy" Parr January 1, 2005
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serial designation n

Personality
N is kind, nervous, and also socially awkward. He always wanted to make friends or at least get accepted and acknowledged by his co-workers, which is a very hard thing to do since he's terrible at doing his job due to his good-natured, unserious, and socially awkward attitude that makes others look down on him and doubt that he can ever do something useful. This is what made him get treated as an outcast, his co-worker, and also unaware crush, Serial Designation V, never pays attention or takes any interest in him. His superior, Serial Designation J, often threatens and insults him about how worthless he is at doing his work and states that if the company one day allowed them to exterminate all the useless Murder Drones, she wouldn't hesitate to kill him.
Hi I'm serial designation n!
by 110111011010101 December 15, 2021
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