Sunday, October 17, 2010

fulsome \FUL-sum\, adjective:

1. Offensive to the taste or sensibilities.

2. Insincere or excessively lavish; especially, offensive from excess of praise.

Fulsome is from Middle English fulsom, from full + -som, "-some."
cock of the block 

• The one who struts his stuff the most in a given vicinity

Phil has had the most girlfriends and the most financial independence amongst his peers. Clearly he is cock of the block.

Trivia

What meat was in the very first sandwich constructed by Dagwood Bumstead in the Blondie comic strip?

• Tongue. The first Dagwood sandwich, featured in the comic strip in April 1936, included tongue, onion, mustard, sardines, beans, and horseradish.

History

• Battle of Saratoga: key battle of the American Revolutionary Warended with a major British surrender (1777)
• Al Capone: mobster called Scarface who ruled much of Chicago was finally convicted — of income tax evasion; he served eight years of an 11-year sentence (1931)
• 1973 Oil Crisis: was sparked when OPEC cut oil supplies to nations that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War

Birthdays

• John Paul I (1912-1978): the 263rd pope; he served for just 33 days
• Jerry Siegel (1914-1996): writer who was one of the creators ofSuperman; authors Nathanael West (1903-1940) and Arthur Miller (1915-2005) share this birth date
• Evel Knievel (1938-2007): daredevil
• Mae C. Jemison (54): the first black woman in space
• Ernie Els (41): former World No. 1 golfer
• Eminem (38): rapper, The Slim Shady LP; also, musiciansJim Seals (69), Gary Puckett (68), Michael Hossack (64),Ziggy Marley (42), Chris Kirkpatrick (39) and Wyclef Jean(38)
• Matthew Macfadyen (36): actor, Spooks, Pride and Prejudice; plus, actors Rita Hayworth (1918-1987),Montgomery Clift (1920-1966), Michael McKean (63),George Wendt and Margot Kidder (both 62), Howard Rollins (60) and Norm Macdonald (47)