gulosity - Function: noun - Etymology: Middle English gulosite, from Late Latin gulositas, from Latin gulosus gluttonous, from gula gullet - Date: 15th century
: excessive appetite : GREEDINESS

Gulosity.

That's right, gulosity.

So I took part in this corporate spelling bee thing this evening. I was pretty much drafted into it by my boss, but that's okay.

It was sponsored by the Commercial Appeal (Memphis' daily paper) and the proceeds went to the Memphis Literacy Council, so it was for a good cause. Gulosity, though, tripped us up.

I had a damn good couple of teammates; several times one or the other would save us by knowing how to spell something. My proudest moment? Spelling "menckenese," which is writing in the style of H.L. Mencken.

Man, it really does pay off to study English and journalism!

So anyway, we were down to six teams (from nineteen) and in the middle of the tenth round. My team took the stage. The emmcee, local radio personality Tom Prestigiacomo, looked at me and said, "gulosity."

We got a sentence. We got the definition. We conferred. Then I stepped up to the microphone.

"G - U - L - O - C - I - T - Y."

Thank you for playing.

It was still pretty cool, though. We beat out some high profile teams (the Memphis Flyer, AutoZone, Coors) and the thing was actually held at the Coors brewery, so we got free pizza and lots and lots of beer.

I actually saw them making tallboys! The tallboy machine was just buzzing along, filling up the cans.

Sonya, looking through the same window onto the brewery floor, said, "I keep expecting to see Laverne and Shirley down there, with one little glove on a bottle."

Though in this case it would have been a tallboy.

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