"Zish": A History
If you know me or any of my family members, this post might be a helpful read.
I. Origins
The term "zish" comes from two Korean swear words/phrases, the first of which is "Ai, shee bal." I don't really know what it means, but my dad used it a lot when he was mad or frustrated. He usually shortened it to "Aish." The second phrase is "Eenomijashik," which pretty much means, "Why you little %$@*!" "Eenomijashik" was shortened to "Eeeesh!" which we heard when we were being especially annoying, or when our dad thought we (or just me) were just plain stupid. [Neither of my sisters has a story at all similar to the following.] For example, when my dad was trying to teach me long division in fourth grade, he belted a huge "Eeeesh!" from the depths of his bowels when I couldn't solve 13 into 1,791. I mean, come on now, Dad. I couldn't even do 3 into 12. Anyway. After the belted "Eeeesh" he came after me with a tennis racket, but I found safety in my mom's arms. "Yuboh, go man heh," said my mom. Good times!
II. Evolution
Anyway. My sisters and I (mostly me) combined the two abbreviations and came up with "yish." We (mostly me) first started using it in pronoun form. When Morning did something that annoyed me, such as use all of the fresh new moving boxes to pack her innumerable tank and tube tops ("I always wear something over it, Unnee," she would say),* I would call her a Yish. The exact phrase was, "You're such a Yish." Slowly Yish became synonymous with Morning. "HALLO, YISH!" I would say when she came home from school. Or, "Get off the phone, Yish!" Or, "YISH! Do you really need all of these products on the sink?" Sometimes she didn't even have to be there. If I used the bathroom after her and saw wet towels on the floor because she didn't take the time to hang them up, I would say "Yiiiish" under my breath. Thus "Yish" was "Aish" and "Eeeesh" in one, not only phonetically (sort of), but also in connotation.
At some point Yish the pronoun became a verb, all the while remaining a pronoun. E.g.,
1)
Morning: "Whatcha doin, Unnee?"
Me: "Hey Yish, oh, I'm just yishin' it."
2)
mhyun: "So Soul, what do you wanna do tonight?"
Me: "Let's just call the Yish and yish it out."
"Yish" was Morning; "to yish" was to relax/be lazy/veg, or if you will, to be. Not only a verb but a modal verb. E.g.,
3)
Me: "Have you talked to Ocean lately? What's she been up to?"
Morning: "Oh, she's just doing her thang, yishin' it."
Needless to say, "to yish" also meant to annoy. E.g.,
4)
Me to Ocean: "Morning is totally yishing it these days. Her yishy face glitter is getting all over our yishy room."
In this example you can also observe how "yish" became an adjective.
III. Change in Environment
Most of you know that I studied abroad during college in Germany. Well, the German keyboard has the y and the z mixed up, so whenever I emailed my family from Germany, my emails would include something like:
1)
"Please tell the Zish that I miss her and that I'm getting zished out by all the meat and potatoes."
2)
"All the Germans are such zishes. No wonder why they have such a zishy history. But they also had such great Zishes, too [like Bach, Beethoven, and the boys]! Why the zish is that?"
After my trip "Yish," "to yish," and "yishy" changed permanently to "Zish," "to zish," and "zishy," respectively.
IV. Environmental Determinants and Present-day Usage
My short history is coming to an end as we reach the present day. I'm sort of tired of storytelling, so I'll just break it down for you, definition-style:
a) The Zish
1. Morning, to M&M and Ocean
2. mhyun, to Morning when talking to me
b) The Zishes
1. Ocean and Morning, to M&M
c) The Little Zish
1. Morning, to M&M
2. M&M's future offspring, to me
d) The Little Zishes
1. Na&Nath, to M&M, Morning, and slowly but surely, jjhyun.
2. Anyone as cute and precious as Morning and N&N, meaning all the kids at BCC!
d) Jish (a simple mispronunciation)
1. Zish, to Mama Pak. E.g., "Are you guys still doing the Jishes?" Meaning, you girls (meaning me) are still saying that stupid word?
Anyway, so that's what I meant in my previous post when I called Be. a little zish (and the many times I've used it in conversations with you all). In the end, its really just a term of endearment.
*The first of four moves in two years, mind you.
I. Origins
The term "zish" comes from two Korean swear words/phrases, the first of which is "Ai, shee bal." I don't really know what it means, but my dad used it a lot when he was mad or frustrated. He usually shortened it to "Aish." The second phrase is "Eenomijashik," which pretty much means, "Why you little %$@*!" "Eenomijashik" was shortened to "Eeeesh!" which we heard when we were being especially annoying, or when our dad thought we (or just me) were just plain stupid. [Neither of my sisters has a story at all similar to the following.] For example, when my dad was trying to teach me long division in fourth grade, he belted a huge "Eeeesh!" from the depths of his bowels when I couldn't solve 13 into 1,791. I mean, come on now, Dad. I couldn't even do 3 into 12. Anyway. After the belted "Eeeesh" he came after me with a tennis racket, but I found safety in my mom's arms. "Yuboh, go man heh," said my mom. Good times!
II. Evolution
Anyway. My sisters and I (mostly me) combined the two abbreviations and came up with "yish." We (mostly me) first started using it in pronoun form. When Morning did something that annoyed me, such as use all of the fresh new moving boxes to pack her innumerable tank and tube tops ("I always wear something over it, Unnee," she would say),* I would call her a Yish. The exact phrase was, "You're such a Yish." Slowly Yish became synonymous with Morning. "HALLO, YISH!" I would say when she came home from school. Or, "Get off the phone, Yish!" Or, "YISH! Do you really need all of these products on the sink?" Sometimes she didn't even have to be there. If I used the bathroom after her and saw wet towels on the floor because she didn't take the time to hang them up, I would say "Yiiiish" under my breath. Thus "Yish" was "Aish" and "Eeeesh" in one, not only phonetically (sort of), but also in connotation.
At some point Yish the pronoun became a verb, all the while remaining a pronoun. E.g.,
1)
Morning: "Whatcha doin, Unnee?"
Me: "Hey Yish, oh, I'm just yishin' it."
2)
mhyun: "So Soul, what do you wanna do tonight?"
Me: "Let's just call the Yish and yish it out."
"Yish" was Morning; "to yish" was to relax/be lazy/veg, or if you will, to be. Not only a verb but a modal verb. E.g.,
3)
Me: "Have you talked to Ocean lately? What's she been up to?"
Morning: "Oh, she's just doing her thang, yishin' it."
Needless to say, "to yish" also meant to annoy. E.g.,
4)
Me to Ocean: "Morning is totally yishing it these days. Her yishy face glitter is getting all over our yishy room."
In this example you can also observe how "yish" became an adjective.
III. Change in Environment
Most of you know that I studied abroad during college in Germany. Well, the German keyboard has the y and the z mixed up, so whenever I emailed my family from Germany, my emails would include something like:
1)
"Please tell the Zish that I miss her and that I'm getting zished out by all the meat and potatoes."
2)
"All the Germans are such zishes. No wonder why they have such a zishy history. But they also had such great Zishes, too [like Bach, Beethoven, and the boys]! Why the zish is that?"
After my trip "Yish," "to yish," and "yishy" changed permanently to "Zish," "to zish," and "zishy," respectively.
IV. Environmental Determinants and Present-day Usage
My short history is coming to an end as we reach the present day. I'm sort of tired of storytelling, so I'll just break it down for you, definition-style:
a) The Zish
1. Morning, to M&M and Ocean
2. mhyun, to Morning when talking to me
b) The Zishes
1. Ocean and Morning, to M&M
c) The Little Zish
1. Morning, to M&M
2. M&M's future offspring, to me
d) The Little Zishes
1. Na&Nath, to M&M, Morning, and slowly but surely, jjhyun.
2. Anyone as cute and precious as Morning and N&N, meaning all the kids at BCC!
d) Jish (a simple mispronunciation)
1. Zish, to Mama Pak. E.g., "Are you guys still doing the Jishes?" Meaning, you girls (meaning me) are still saying that stupid word?
Anyway, so that's what I meant in my previous post when I called Be. a little zish (and the many times I've used it in conversations with you all). In the end, its really just a term of endearment.
*The first of four moves in two years, mind you.
posted by miriamhead at 12:29 PM
4 Comments:
I wonder if you can use it as an adverb. Eg. I walked over to her zishily.
you too funnie :) lol
I couldn't stop laughing and my floormates were asking me if I was okay! I MISS YOU AND I LOVE YOU YOU LIL' ZISH!!!
Ocean
oh man, i love it! so fun to have you in the world of blog. :) hung out with shOran today...both can't wait for M&M to come visit. ;)
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