16 December 2013

balk

[bawk]

(also baulk)

verb (used without object)

1. to stop, as at an obstacle, and refuse to proceed or to do something specified (usually followed by at ): He balked at making the speech.
2. (of a horse, mule, etc.) to stop short and stubbornly refuse to go on.
3. Baseball. to commit a balk.
verb (used with object)
4. to place an obstacle in the way of; hinder; thwart: a sudden reversal that balked her hopes.
5. Archaic. to let slip; fail to use: to balk an opportunity.

Today’s aphorism

I spent half of my money on booze, women and gambling. The other half I wasted.

– W.C. Fields

On this day

16 December 1980 – death of Harlan Sanders who eventually becomes a Colonel and chickens throughout Kentucky, and ultimately the rest of the world, are never the same again as he invents Kentucky Fried Chicken. Born 9 September 1890.