"(sok-DOL-uh-juhr) noun. 1. A decisive blow or remark. 2. Something exceptional or outstanding. [Of unknown origin, apparently from sock.]
This sockdolager of a word has an unusual claim to fame in the US history. It turned out to be the cue on which John Wilkes Booth fired his shot at President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was watching the play "An American Cousin" in Ford Theater on that fateful night. His killer, Booth, an actor himself and aware of the dialog, knew the line that brought the loudest burst of laughter from the audience was:
'Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologising old man-trap.'
Booth fired his gun at that precise moment to muffle the loud noise of his shot with the guffaws from the audience, and quietly escaped."
Happy Presidents' Day!