#stymie

That time Stymie accidentally used the Necronomicon instead of a cookbook to make a birthday cake.

From Birthday Blues (1932), the 118th Our Gang/Little Rascals short.

Whether or not this short had any influence on a young Stanley Kubrick is purely a matter of conjecture.

First attested in 1857, this word was originally a technical term used in golf. Its original meaning is "to block an opponent's path to the hole with one's own ball", from the noun stymie, which meant "a situation in which an opponent's ball blocks one's path to the hole".

The noun is attested from 1834, and is of uncertain origin. The most likely source is Scottish stymie, "a person with poor vision", which itself is from Scottish stime, meaning "the least bit", through the idiom "unable to see a stime". Stime is attested from the 14th century, and itself is of unknown origin.

Stymie, with jockey Conn McCreary up, wears a blanket of gardenias while standing in the winner's circle after capturing the first running of the Empire City Gold Cup at Belmont Park, Elmont, July 19, 1947. Owner Ethel D. Jacobs and her husband, trainer Hirsch Jacobs, stand at right.