DCHP-3

nish

DCHP-2 (Jun 2016)

Spelling variants:
nesh

1adj. — Newfoundland, somewhat rare

soft, delicate, sore or inflamed.

Type: 2. Preservation — Nish is an adjective used in Newfoundland to describe something that is very tender or soft. Evidence from written sources suggests the term is most often used in this sense in reference to either very tender meat (see the 1989 and 2001 quotations) or sore body parts (see the 1982 and 2002 quotations). As with a great number of other words in the Newfoundland English lexicon, nish is a preservation from English Southwest Country dialects, where the term is often spelled nesh or nesch (EDD, s.v. "nesh"(1)). Nish, with a host of other West Country English words, was brought to the province by emigrants from the southwest regions of England (Clarke 2010b: 7). The term has roots in the Old English word hnesce, meaning 'soft' (see also EDD and W-3, s.v. "nesh")
See also DNE, s.v. "nish" (1).

Quotations

1863
MORETON 35 [Nish] Tender, delicate.
1955
ENGLISH 35 [Nish] tender, easily injured.
1982
nesh (adj.) -- tender, sore, as in "I just hit my knee and it's some nesh."
1989
Nish, nesh [...] Tender, soft (mostly of food), DNE 349.
1990
Newfoundland is one of England's oldest overseas colonies. Newfoundlanders have developed their own words including fadge (to do things for oneself), keecorn (Adam's apple), nish (soft or tender) and sunker (a submerged rock, over which the sea breaks).
2001
This book contains an appendix of local words, including a number of food terms; for example, couldnins means leftover food and nish refers to tender meat.
2002
Once you have a bedsore, the skin never full heals. For the rest of your life that particular area remains nish and a potential problem.
2adj. — Newfoundland, somewhat rare

of ice: very thin; easily breakable.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — As with meaning 1, nish in the sense of 'brittle' is a preservation from British English. EDD (s.v. "nesh" (2)) defines the term as 'brittle, easily broken; crumbly, esp. of coal'. This definition remains fairly unchanged in NLE and can thus be applied to anything brittle (see, for example, the second 1990 quotation). Newfoundland's influence on the term, however, is reflected in its application to ice, whereby nish describes thin ice (DNE, s.v. "nish" (2)). Clarke (2010b: 118) notes that because of the profound relationship between the ocean and Newfoundland daily life, many lexical preservations have experienced semantic narrowing to an ocean-, weather- or fishery-related meaning.
See also DNE, s.v. "nish" (2).

Quotations

1958
Nfld Dishes 46 [Nish:] applied to ice or even to pastry.
1990
P 210-69 Be careful with that cup -- it's very nish.
1990
C 71-125 ~ Anything thing or frail, easily broken. New ice, very thin, is very often referred to as 'nish.'
2007
Your [sic] on nish ice there b'y - meaning the ice is not strong, dangerous.
2009
But even if you do know that nish means brittle and when to celebrate Old Christmas Day, you're bound, I swear to you, to be swallowed by this multi-generational round of a story.
3adj. — Newfoundland

of people: delicate or feeble; weak.

Type: 2. Preservation — A third meaning of nish pertains to people who are sensitive or "tender", in the sense of being unable to withstand rough physical or social conditions. This meaning is also a preservation from British English, where nish can mean "delicate in health, weakly, sickly, susceptible to cold" and "timid, cowardly; poor-spirited" (EDD, s.v. "nesh" (4) & (6)).
See also DNE, s.v. "nish" (3).
This appears to the most widely used meaning today.

Quotations

1896
J A Folklore ix, 23 Nesh. Tender and delicate, used to describe one who cannot stand much cold or hard work.
1906
GRENFELL 168 So Pete has to depend more and more on his knowledge of boiling springs, for he never yet was 'nish' (tender) enough to stop and boil the kettle when he could melt snow for water.
1924
"Long use in wrapping up has made him 'nesh,' as they say in Lancashire. And if, indeed, he were brought to the belief that he could endure the severities of the season thus skimpily clad, would he ever be convinced it suited his style of beauty? There was a time when men, especially young men who had luxuriant hair, went about in town and country alike without a hat or cap on their heads. [...]"
1986
Only a sleeveen, shimmick, tissy mawk or grum nunny-fudger could be rafted and harrished by Newfoundland English. For while come-from-aways may be nish enough to think the gate ramlatch, any yaffle of baymen from the outports, where the stun breeze faffers on the ballicatters, can still fadge in the oldest and most distinctive English spoken in North America.
2007
hes [sic] some nesh.... - The person is very timid or hes [sic] a wimp.
2015
Both sets of grandparents are always so worried about baby. It's cute but kinda annoying too. [...] I told my mom yesterday that if all Sydney's grandparents were so nish raising us kids we would all be sissys!

References

  • EDD
  • DNE
  • W-3
  • Clarke (2010b)