"ish" is normally applied to things that don't quite meet the mark. e.g. "How was your meeting?" Answer "It was Ok - ish". It's a sort of modifying downwards of an assessment of something. Hence: stylish. That's how I have determined to use that word from now on. "She's a stylish woman" - ahh yes if you think that combination of string thing/jewels/sunglasses/off-road vehicle in Surbiton is style. Try it and see if it works for you.
Of course there is brandish and vanish etc. but they mess up my point of view so I'll ignore those sort of words.
Posted by grahame at June 14, 2004 10:06 AM | TrackBackGrahame
You shouldn't ignore words like brandish and vanish because they have alternative meanings - see below:
Brandish - the socially crippling habit of frugal parents buying non-branded discount store training shoes for their offspring in the belief that a) they won't notice, b) they won't mind and c) their peers will not expolit the same for the purposes of cruel and wicked taunting of said offspring: as in "His Mum brandished them - I mean they're last year's colour, they don't have the gas filled sole and the tongue doesn't even pump up, man."
Vanish - the often succumbed-to temptation of young men to drive a light commercial vehicle with extra lights, spoiler and tinted windows because they can't afford the insurance on a pickup or hot hatch which are the true objects of his desire: as in "He's vanished - spent it all on a tarted-up AstraMax instead of saving for the Saxo down the showroom."
Posted by: bignoseduglyguy at June 14, 2004 12:06 PMi met a man called hamish. he was sort of pig like, only worse.
Posted by: funkypancake at June 14, 2004 01:30 PM