Fulsome, they thundered, means "physically loathsome, foul, disgusting." How dare I to misuse it so—and in, of all places, a book about words? Does this not place the credibility of the entire book at stake? Well, I can reply at last: no it does not, because fulsome does mean exactly what I wanted it to mean: "abundant, plentiful, tending to cloying overabundance" usually used in reference to gross or excessive flattery, over-demonstrative affection, or the like. The readers who fulminated so were using out-of-date dictionaries....
Winchester was right about "out of date" dictionaries. I "went analog" and dug out my old unabridged Random House (published 1966) and its definition begins with "offensive to good taste, esp. as being excessive; gross..."
Thank goodness for Merriam-Webster keeping me from referring to Virtual1's help as something other than, well, fulsome.
