Sometimes you may want to give yourself a little flexibility without tying yourself down entirely. Sometimes you may want to explain how you feel, but the words seem a little too extreme one way or another. There is a simple way to rectify these and countless other situations. Add the perfect suffix to your word—three little letters which create the beauty of the ish.
You’re making plans with your friends to get together, but you’re not one to wear a watch, you rely on your cell phone to know the time. You don’t like to be pinned down to a certain time. Watch how the ish can give you the leeway you crave:
“So, let’s all meet for dinner at seven,” says your buddy.
“Alright. I can do that. I’ll see you at sevenish,” you reply. And, suddenly you’ve bought yourself some extra time with no real ramifications.
Let’s say you’re having a bad day. It’s just one of those days where you feel off and things just are not quite in sync. Things aren’t really bad enough to warrant coming right out and saying you’re having a bad day, so how do you explain the off-kilter mode of your day and garner a little sympathy, without coming across as a total pansy? Easy—the ish!
“Hey! How’s your day going?” your most sympathetic friend asks.
“Oh. It’s been okayish,” you say with a shrug.
“Bummer. Let’s go do something to make it better...” replies your friend, who of course picked up on your subtle lamenting and suggests your favorite pick-me-up activity.
Maybe you’re not completely ready to commit to a relationship, or ‘fess up to having feelings for someone. Our love lives are not only the source of much speculation and angst among Generation Y’rs, they are the frequent topic of conversation. How do you remain non-committal, yet give off just the right degree of interest in hopes of it circling back to that new cute guy/girl in your group? Once again—the ish!
“Wow! You sure have been flirting a lot lately,” your friend notes.
“Yeah, we’ve been having a lot of fun,” you reply.
“Well, then, what’s your deal? Are you into him (her)?” your friend asks rather persistently.
“Hmm…” you said, and after a pause add, “ish.”
Perfect, now your friend, who also is friends with your potential new flame, knows you could be interested if he/she is into you. Bait has been set, but you have cleverly kept the control by being interested (maybeish) and aloof, and all because of the ish.
So, how has the ish helped you?
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Comments
Such a delightful article. I've always found ish words somewhat comforting because of the flexibility factor. This was a fun one to read.
I love ISH.. i use it mostly to get out of being on time! This article makes me want one on the overusage of "LOL" and how some people use it as a cop out from the real opinion. Come on people.. your not really laughing out loud!
G--Great idea! I've made note...I'll try and do something about LOL for sure! LOL! haha
Ish is a cheerful - and useful - suffix. But be wary that it doesn't, like dancing, lead to other abominations like defensableness and lackage
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