Sir, I refer again, if you will allow me, to the subject of the "fulsome tribute". With regard to the English language, the many usage controversies include problems of vocabulary, especially in relation to the choice and meaning of words.
According to The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992), "new words, and new senses and uses of words, are not sanctioned or rejected by the authority of any single body: they arise through regular rise (my italics) and, once established, are recorded in dictionaries and grammars".
As a linguist, I would be gratified to learn at what stage in the history of language the original meaning of the word "fulsome" became unacceptable to a majority of educated speakers throughout the English speaking world, and was altered to something so unpleasant.
I am in agreement with Mr Myles Crowe (November 1st) that only Mr Agnew can tell us what he meant by a "fulsome tribute". In the absence of irrefutable evidence to the contrary from the journalist himself, I am staying with my original interpretation of his words as outlined in my letter of October 25th - Yours, etc.,
Park Lane,
Dublin 4.