In a speech to the National Governors Association last month, President Obama said about his first stimulus package, “I just want to make sure that we’re having an honest debate and presenting to the American people a fulsome accounting of what is going on in this program.” He meant full, in the sense of “complete,” even “abundant” or “copious,” which is what that wordmeant in the Middle Ages. But by the 16th century, fulsome’s meaning had taken “full” overboard, to “satiating, cloying, excessive.” Shakespeare used it often, meaning “loathsome” and “rank with lust.” The O.E.D. defines its application to language...
