> By ‘terrible’ he meant ‘terribly good’.

An old and cobwebbed memory: In Assembly in primary school, the head teacher said how someone had once described the British Museum as "that awe-full place", meaning that it, or its contents, inspired awe. She then said that describing it as "that awful place" would nowadays be unwise.

If this comment is misplaced, please move it to one of the Abuse of English threads.