Washington (CNN) -- Superfluous (su-PER-flu-us): Adjective. Unnecessary or needless; difficult to pronounce for a president with a split lip. President Barack Obama grappled with the word Sunday evening at a White House event for this year's Kennedy Center honorees as he read from an opinion by legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. "It's this lip. It's hard to say," Obama said to chuckles from the audience. "You try it when you've had 12 stitches." The Chart: What happens when you split your lip Obama got a dozen stitches in his lip after being elbowed during a pickup basketball game the day after Thanksgiving. He received applause from the crowd when he finally managed to pronounce the word, included in a 1926 dissent from Holmes in defense of the arts.
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President's struggle drew chuckles at White House event
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"You try it when you've had 12 stitches," Obama says
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Honorees for Kennedy Center awards range from Merle Haggard to Oprah Winfrey
@placeholder, a woman accustomed to celebrating others' accomplishments, was visibly moved by Sunday's recognition.