Question

Someone tell me what this sentence means? "he not only rapidly exhausted the stock of superlatives of his audience, reviewers and fans, but also became the first Cowdrey lecturer to receive a standing ovation since Desmond Tutu in 2008".

what does stock of superlatives mean in this sentence?

Answer 1

by the stock of superlatives the author means the group of people who were superlative or of high post or standard in the audience.

And the sentence means that the person exhausted or astonished the minds of his audience that even the superlatives were surprised by his lecture and was....as said the first after Desmond Tutu in 2008 to get a standing ovation or the highest standard of applause to him.