Sir, I hope to have the last word on the "fulsome" controversy. Readers' letters appear to have demonstrated a conflict in the definition given in the Oxford English Dictionary versus that in the Concise Oxford Dictionary.
A usage note in the ninth edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary informs us that the original meaning of fulsome was "copious." "However. this usage is now considered incorrect, and fulsome is used only as a pejorative term, applied in nouns such as flattery. praise, and tribute, meaning `excessive' or `cloying'."
Now, can there really be any doubt about the meaning of Paddy Agnew's words "a fulsome tribute?" But, of course, only Mr Agnew can tell us what he meant. Still, some people will insist that this is just a COD. - Yours, etc.,
Tobernea Terrace,
Seapoint, Co. Dublin.