Sunday, December 13, 2009

largess \lar-ZHES; lar-JES; LAR-jes\, noun; also largesse:

1. Generous giving (as of gifts or money), often accompanied by condescension.
2. Gifts, money, or other valuables so given.
3. Generosity; liberality.

Largess is from Old French largesse, "largeness, generosity," from large, from Latin largus, "plentiful, generous."

Elf-Esteem

1. The feeling of being overworked, underappreciated and like you don't exist to others during the holidays while in actuality the season's success depends on you.
2. The sense of being 3 feet small when others would view you in high stature if they realized all you do to make the holiday's happen.

I think Hermey is having some elf-esteem issues. He's pulling the stuffing out of all the teddy bears.

Trivia

What Pulitzer Prize Winning novelist helped Truman Capote do research for his book In Cold Blood?

• Harper Lee, a childhood friend of Capote’s and author of the 1961 Pulitzer winner To Kill a Mockingbird.

Today in History

• Francis Drake: British explorer set out on a three-year circumnavigation of the globe, looting Spanish ships as he sailed (1577)
• New Zealand: was sighted for the first time by a European, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman (1642)
• United States presidential election of 2000: Democratic candidate Al Gore conceded the race to President Bush 36 days after Election Day
• Saddam Hussein: Iraqi dictator was captured hiding in a spider hole near Tikrit (2003)

Today's Birthdays

• Heinrich Heine (1797-1856): lyric poet, essayist
• Carlos Montoya (1903-1993): flamenco guitarist
• Ross Macdonald (1915-1983): crime fiction novelist, creator of Lew Archer
• Christopher Plummer (80): stage and screen actor; also, actors Dick Van Dyke (84), Robert Prosky (1930-2008), John Davidson (68), Wendie Malick (59), Steve Buscemi (52), Jamie Foxx (42) and James Kyson Lee (34)
• Richard Zanuck (75): film producer; plus, music producer Lou Adler (76)
• Ted Nugent (61): rock guitarist; other musicians born today include Jeff Baxter (61),Thomas Delonge (34) and Amy Lee (28)
• Sergei Fedorov (40): hockey forward; MLB hall-of-famer Ferguson Jenkins (66) has a birthday today, too