A Pedant's Lot Is Not A Happy One

[ajva]

I hate it very much when I see a shop advertise a chaise longue as a "chaise lounge". Ignorant tossers.

I hate it very much when people use the word fulsome incorrectly. In fact, I rarely see it used correctly these days, which makes me wonder if we are going to lose a very succinct and useful word to the inexorable onwards march of linguistic evolution. Damn.




In case you're scared to ask, "fulsome" does emphatically *not* mean "comprehensive" (don't get mixed up between "ful-" and "full"). It means something like "cloyingly insincere by excess", thus "fulsome praise" means praise that is too over the top to be sincere. Here endeth the lesson.

Comments

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fulsome says

Usage Note: Fulsome is often used to mean “offensively flattering or insincere.” But the word is also used, particularly in the expression fulsome praise, to mean simply “abundant,” without any implication of excess or insincerity. This usage is etymologically justified but may invite misunderstandings in contexts in which a deprecatory interpretation could be made. The sentence I offer you my most fulsome apologies may raise an eyebrow, where the use of an adjective like full or abundant would leave no room for doubt as to the sincerity of the speaker's intentions.