A way with words

The White House plans to draw down half of the US troops in Afghanistan, which may expose Central Asia to more terrorism. That calls for diplomacy between this region and the United States. Unfortunately, American diplomacy is shaky, partly because US President Donald Trump and his aides disdain English. Here’s Exhibit A:

A White House spokesman told the Washington Post that the former Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, “ ‘gave a fulsome readout of a meeting [between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin] immediately afterward to other U.S. officials in a private setting, as well as a readout to the press.’ ” Evidently the spokesman thinks that “fulsome” means “full.” It does not.  The American Heritage Dictionary defines “fulsome” as “excessively flattering or insincerely earnest.” Come to think of it, that spokesman may know less than he lets on. – Leon Taylor tayloralmaty@gmail.com

References

The American Heritage Dictionary. 2012. Fifth edition. Dell.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Mujib Mashal.  2018. U.S. to withdraw about 7,000 troops from Afghanistan, officials say.  The New York Times. December 20.

Greg Miller. 2019. Officials in dark on Putin talks. The Washington Post. January 13.