As late as my college days (I recall a professor correcting someone), it was a gaffe to use the word "fulsome" to mean "copious."
Everyone knew it meant "in bad taste" or "insincere." One
on-line dictionary defines it thus:
| 1. | offensive to good taste, esp. as being excessive; overdone or gross: fulsome praise that embarrassed her deeply; fulsome décor. |
| 2. | disgusting; sickening; repulsive: a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods. |
| 3. | excessively or insincerely lavish: fulsome admiration. |
| 4. | encompassing all aspects; comprehensive: a fulsome survey of the political situation in Central America. |
However, increasingly (at least five times this week alone) I see the word used in print in the sense of definition #5. Indeed, the same dictionary notes:
In the 13th century when it was first used, fulsome meant simply “abundant or copious.” It later developed additional senses of “offensive, gross” and “disgusting, sickening,” probably by association with foul, and still later a sense of excessiveness: a fulsome disease; a fulsome meal, replete with too much of everything. For some centuries fulsome was used exclusively, or nearly so, with these unfavorable meanings.
Today, both fulsome and fulsomely are also used in senses closer to the original one: The sparse language of the new Prayer Book contrasts with the fulsome language of Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer. Later they discussed the topic more fulsomely. These uses are often criticized on the grounds that fulsome must always retain its connotations of “excessive” or “offensive.” The common phrase fulsome praise is thus sometimes ambiguous in modern use.
Twits! How am I supposed to know if I am being complimented or insulted?
