Talk:ish

The noun definition might be a troll but seems legimitate according to a Google search on "+ish +shit". &mdash; Paul G 13:11, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)

"the def may be a troll"??
or the guy who put it up cuz he's only hadda handful of edits. yeah. I hate when apparent newbies show up at 'pedia, too. anyway, word. I'm sure a google search does confirm. also talking to kids today would corroborate. I'm for real here. people use it. that's basically where it came from. hit up my talk if you don't believe me. thanks, Ish Mc  dzznology 04:17, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

i got here from some wikipedia backward music article where it said the word shit recorded backwards sounded like ish and ish became an euphenism for shit.. maybe u should add that

Noun sense
Also used as a noun:

"And who can listen without succumbing to the dizzying mixture of invention and description compressed into these ishes?"

In case someone wants to find more cites to substantiate this usage and add it.. --Ivan Štambuk 08:07, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

Another usage as a noun is the Scottish legal use of 'ish', meaning the expiry date or termination of a lease, see.

Interjection
The first interjection seems to be quite similar to the adverb meaning in etymology 2, so should maybe be moved/merged there.

Also, I don't understand what the 1st etymology is trying to define - it makes no sense to me.

RFV discussion.
citations, regional? Multiple senses seem to overlap. The "adverb" and "adjective" would be indistinguishable from "-ish" in speech, so we need print citations. Is there a citable missing noun (="shit")? DCDuring TALK 12:19, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

New citation of this word usage:

Using -ish in a non-standard way as in "Good(ish) News from Procter & Gamble: No Ad Cutback Here"


 * I can not find evidence in b.g.c. (fiction} [423 raw hits for "ish"] for the purported adjective and interjection. Most hits are eye dialect for "is" (ish), the proper nickname "Ish", and the ubiquitous adverbial development of the suffix ish, but for which I have found only 2 cites in standalone use. I'd be inclined to keep the adverb and mention the potential broader use in usage notes. DCDuring TALK 12:30, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

RFV failed, adjective and interjection sections removed. —Ruakh TALK 20:15, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Expression of disgust
I gather that "ish" can be an expression of disgust. I saw a Web page stating that it is used in Minnesota, but I actually heard it years ago from somebody in Winnipeg (i.e. not too far away from there). I think it can also be spelled "eesh". I doubt the etymology is the same as the "shit" euphemism. It's probably just a sound, like "ugh". Equinox ◑ 22:32, 13 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Created eesh. Is "ish" attestable? Equinox ◑ 23:59, 16 August 2015 (UTC)


 * NPR recently included "ish" (as in "Ooh, ish!" when expressing disgust) on a list of US Colloquialisms, also crediting it to Minnesota. "Ishy" is a related word meaning "disgusting" (e.g. "The lutefisk was ishy!"). Been using it all my life, only just learned it's apparently a regional thing... 75.168.147.255 22:16, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
 * , vol. 3 (I-O) (1996) to find out about how old this might be. If I can get volume 6 I might find out about regional distribution. Online access might reveal more. DCDuring TALK 22:35, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Many better libraries have DARE. DCDuring TALK 22:38, 26 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I have access to this volume of DARE. Let me know if you need more, but this is the gist of it: ishy adj [ish intj] esp MN WI. == Icky. Said to be common in Minnesota and Wisconsin, even in "people with no Scandinavian antecedents." It wasn't until I left Minnesota that I realized it was regional. Neon tone (talk) 00:46, 19 November 2023 (UTC)