Hoyer echoed Pelosi in saying Obama had tried to be flexible, but said there was “great difficulty” in trying to find a compromise.
“We had a pretty fulsome discussion on the specifics that the White House was prepared to agree to, or at least that they thought were options that were viable,” Hoyer said in an interview shortly after the meeting at the White House.
Emphasis mine.
From the dictionary:
ful·some
[fool-suhm, fuhl-]
–adjective
1. offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive; overdone or gross: fulsome praise that embarrassed her deeply; fulsome décor.
2. disgusting; sickening; repulsive: a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods.
3. excessively or insincerely lavish: fulsome admiration
I can imagine either definitions (1) or (2) applying, but I don’t think that’s what he meant. I’m not sure if this is a Kinsleyan gaffe, because while he was telling the truth, he probably didn’t realize it.
“Little Carmine” Hoyer.
Given those involved, “fulsome” may apply. But I agree it’s not likely what was intended.
Who was it that defined a gaffe as a politician inadvertently telling the truth? I agree with Peterh — it applies.