I like to think I'm a reasonably intelligent person. Certainly an objective observer or two has thought so. But every once in a while I get knocked down a peg or three. Case in point: a Serbian prof in my department walked into my office a few minutes ago and said, "I need the advice of a native English speaker." This same person has asked my advice on Spanish in the past, which I was easily able to give. But the English advice? Nope. His question-- "How do you use the word palaver?" Not only had I never heard of the word, I couldn't even figure out how to spell it. I did make a decent guess when given the context, but I felt like an idiot for not even recognizing the word. Matthew bailed me out over email, and I was able to actually help the prof (giving credit where it was due, of course). So, your moment of Balderdash for the day: without cheating, give a definition of palaver. (This will be more fun if those of you who know the real answer abstain from answering. Of course, if everyone already knows the definition, feel free to have fun at my expense.)