Talk:fusome

RFV discussion: December 2021–January 2022

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fusome

Rfv-sense: notable Notusbutthem (talk) 16:12, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

OED has this as an alt form of fulsome. I'd be interested to know Leasnam's reasons for supposing it comes from fouse.

A cursory search turns up Scots uses: [1], [2] (Kinloch of "Kinloch's Ballad Book" was Scottish), but nothing in English. This, that and the other (talk) 08:00, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

There is an alt form of fulsome spelt fusome₁ (cf. foulsome, fousome in Scots), but that word has a totally different meaning - in English it means "copious, excessive, gross" and in Scots continues the connotation of "nauseating, disgusting" (influenced from foul). English Fusome₂ however means "handy; handsome, comely, shapely, attractive, neat" and can also be spelt fewsome, feusome, fusum. It is certainly not the derivative of Middle English fulsom (“abundant, well-fed, disgusting, loathesome”). I cannot now find the source that posits derivation from Middle English *fussom, *fusom, based on Middle English fus, a variant of fous, but that seemed at the time a better explanation than "variant of fulsome". Yet, there may also have been a reinforcement from viewsome (“having a good view"; "pleasing to the eye, good to look at”), though I'm not 100% convinced this is totally the source - fusome also means "deft-handed, capable, workman-like" which viewsome doesn't mean. Leasnam (talk) 19:47, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

RFV-failed Kiwima (talk) 18:44, 8 January 2022 (UTC)