Schumer vs. Wash. Times on "fulsome"

[Barnhart]

This is an observation that has been around for several years:

1) "However, since the 1960's _fulsome_ has frequently appeared in the
favorable senses of very flattering or complimentary; full or complete, a
usage that is remarkable because it represents a return to the original
meaning of the word, since the first syllable assumes its original force
with the meaning of full or abundant."  _The Barnhart Dictionary of
Etymology_ (c. 1988).

2) "> As the quotations under definition 1 show, this usage is viewed with
disfavor in some quarters.  Yet it has been gaining currency, probably
because the first syllable is taken to mean 'full' or 'abundant' and
therefore connoting approbation." _The Second Barnhart Dictionary of New
English_ (c. 1980).

David

barnhart at highlands.com

American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on Sunday, July 24, 2005
at 11:28 AM -0500 wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: Schumer vs. Wash. Times on "fulsome"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>On Sun, 24 Jul 2005, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
>> Like there was any doubt about what Schumer meant.
>
>"Fulsome" is one of the many shibboleths of purists where their own
>arguments can be used against them, i.e., it is one of the many
>shibboleths of purists for which it turns out that the meaning condemned
>is actually the original, etymological sense of the word (see the OED).
>
>I have e-mailed a letter to the editor to the Washington Times to this
>effect.
>
>Fred Shapiro
>
>
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>Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
>Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
>  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
>Yale Law School                             forthcoming
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