Nesh

For the village, see Nesh, Afghanistan.

Nesh is an English dialect adjective meaning 'unusually susceptible to cold weather' and there is no synonym for this use.[1] The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word as: "Soft in texture or consistency; yielding easily to pressure or force. In later use chiefly: tender, succulent, juicy."[2]

Usage in the 21st century has been recorded in Staffordshire, the East Midlands, Lancashire, North Wales, South Yorkshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] There is a similar term nish used in Newfoundland.[10] In 1905, Volume 4 of the English Dialect Dictionary specified the word as being used more widely, in many dialects across England, Scotland and the United States.[11]

The word comes from Old English hnesce meaning feeble, weak, or infirm[12] and is a cognate with the 16th century Dutch word nesch typically meaning damp or foolish.[2] The Oxford English Dictionary notes that some etymologists have suggested a connection with Old High German nasc, meaning 'to eat dainty food or delicacies' (the origin of the word nosh), but it dismisses this connection as "unlikely".[13]

Nesh was added, in 2011, to the British Library 'wordbank', a project to preserve regional dialect words and phrases.[14]

  1. ^ "Chaucer, father of English poetry". Bbc.co.uk. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b "nesh, adj., n., and adv.". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  3. ^ :'Putting SY on the wordmap', BBC, 22 August 2005.
  4. ^ "Staffordshire Words – your suggestions!", BBC, 2005 Archived 2006-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "A Gradely Read for Gradely Folk". Archived from the original on August 2, 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Nesh", Vocaboly.com, January 18, 2005 Archived July 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "What's Up Duck?". Derby Telegraph. 4 September 2009. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  8. ^ OED: 1879 G. F. JACKSON Shropshire Word-bk. s.v., 'Er's a nesh piece, 'er dunna do above 'afe a day's work. Given under Sense 2: "Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; timid, faint-hearted; lazy, negligent. Now Eng. regional, chiefly north. rare."
  9. ^ "55 long-lost Herefordshire sayings and words". Hereford Times. 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2024-02-01.
  10. ^ "Dictionary of Newfoundland English A-Z Index". Heritage.nf.ca. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  11. ^ Joseph Wright (1905). English Dialect Dictionary, Volume 4. Oxford: Henry Fowde. p. 252.
  12. ^ [1] [dead link]
  13. ^ Oxford English Dictionary online version.
  14. ^ Jasper Copping (3 July 2011). "Regional phrases preserved in new wordbank so you can tell a bobowler from a bishybarnabee". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 August 2011.