DCHP-2

nish nesh DCHP-2 (June 2016)

• 1 adj. — 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).

• 2 adj. — 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).

• 3 adj. — 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.