Mush

[bigtonesfc]

Having a bit of a debate with my son about the word `mush`.He uses to his mates and i know one of its meanings is mate.But if someone comes up to me in a pub and uses it at the end of the sentence it gets my back right up,i dont class it at respectful.Fair enough if they are talking about someone else that they dont know,but not directly calling me it!

Maybe its my age!!

[Dog]

It originates from old gypsy language meaning 'mate', mush.

[Pancake]

Seems to have different usage in different places. I was confused when I started posted on S4E as it was used as a term of mateyness; whereas when I was a school in the 80s/90s in Surrey it was a "rude" slang term akin to calling someone an arsehole or ******.

[Gemmel]

Having a bit of a debate with my son about the word `mush`.He uses to his mates and i know one of its meanings is mate.But if someone comes up to me in a pub and uses it at the end of the sentence it gets my back right up,i dont class it at respectful.Fair enough if they are talking about someone else that they dont know,but not directly calling me it!

Maybe its my age!!

 

It's a Southampton colloquialism and most often used as a friendly term.

 

Don't get your back up about Mush

[krissyboy31]

Different contexts for different situations. Like you, I think if a stranger calls you "mush", it would be a bit of an insult, whereas if somebody you know well does, it's a term of endearment. I think it comes from the fact it's slang for "mouth". If a stranger called you mouth, you would be entitled to get a bit upset.

[krissyboy31]

It's a Southampton colloquialism.

 

I used to think so (supposedly derived from the Polish refugee camps) but not true. I travel all over the country and lived in Surrey, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire and have heard it in general conversation in all these places.

[Sheaf Saint]

So is there any truth to the story I heard a few years back that 'mush' was derived from 'monsieur' by the Southampton dockers in their interactions with the large number of french sailors passing through the docks?

[Dog]

Romano Language

 

 

 

The following is a list of actual Gypsy(Romani) words and their meanings with a guide to pronunciation. They might come in handy to throw into conversation and if you wish to speak in this language in play you must know it out of play.

 

 

 

Mush = man

[Thedelldays]

they also say mush in pompey

 

girls in pompey are known as "pompey mushes"

[Gemmel]

I used to think so (supposedly derived from the Polish refugee camps) but not true. I travel all over the country and lived in Surrey, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire and have heard it in general conversation in all these places.

MUSH

 

Mush is British slang for the mouth; face.

Mush was old British slang for an umbrella.

Mush is Southampton slang for a boy or man.

 

 

 

You are probably right, but I always think of it as a Sotonian word.

[bigtonesfc]

So is there any truth to the story I heard a few years back that 'mush' was derived from 'monsieur' by the Southampton dockers in their interactions with the large number of french sailors passing through the docks?

 

I also heard this.

 

A definition on one online dictionary says it can be used as either a sentimental or a contemptuous term...so i suppose as long as the `mush` isnt in my face when he is speaking to me,he must like me!

[View From The Top]

So is there any truth to the story I heard a few years back that 'mush' was derived from 'monsieur' by the Southampton dockers in their interactions with the large number of french sailors passing through the docks?

 

That has always been my understanding of it.

[RedAndWhite91]

I always thought 'mush' was a Southampton word, and I've used it since I was about 8 or 9 years old. I've always used it to mean 'mate'.

[miserableoldgit]

I am Southampton born and bred and when I grew up in the 50`s and 60`s it was used both as a term of friendship - "Alright, Mush??" - (in fact my dad still uses it in that way) and in the same way as the word "bloke" i.e."these two Mushes were walking along the road", but as far as the origin of the word, I was told it was from the Romany meaning " man ".

[RedAndWhite91]

I am Southampton born and bred and when I grew up in the 50`s and 60`s it was used both as a term of friendship - "Alright, Mush??" - (in fact my dad still uses it in that way) and in the same way as the word "bloke" i.e."these two Mushes were walking along the road", but as far as the origin of the word, I was told it was from the Romany meaning " man ".

 

Spot on IMHO;

[gaz]

Its not just a Southampton word, its used by 60-70% of blokes up here in the Midlands, along with ''Chavvy'' and ''Gear-ah'', but all meaning the same thing ('mate').

[View From The Top]

Its not just a Southampton word, its used by 60-70% of blokes up here in the Midlands, along with ''Chavvy'' and ''Gear-ah'', but all meaning the same thing ('mate').

 

Apart from Corky Morris and I using it I've never heard it in either the Potteries or the Black Country.

 

It's always meant "mate" to me.

[REDARMY79]

Mush = Camel *****.....Fact?

[Whitey Grandad]

MUSH

 

Mush is British slang for the mouth; face.

Mush was old British slang for an umbrella.

Mush is Southampton slang for a boy or man.

 

 

 

You are probably right, but I always think of it as a Sotonian word.

Indeed it was A mush-faker was a man who mended umbrellas.

[bridge too far]

Don't husky drivers say 'mush' to get their dogs going?

[Whitey Grandad]

Don't husky drivers say 'mush' to get their dogs going?

Yup, it's from the french 'marche'. The sledge driver is called a 'musher'

[RedAndWhite91]

When I was about 10 I called my mate mush, and he replied angrily "Don't call me mush, I was born in Winchester". He seemed to think you could only be called mush if you were a Sotonian like me. The idiot.

[xerox]

Mush = Camel *****.....Fact?

 

yes the 'female's camels private area' meaning, always thought it a bit strange but i have been told 'where to go' quite a few times when calling people mush. anyone explain this?

[100%Red&White]

they also say mush in pompey

 

girls in pompey are known as "pompey mushes"

 

Mush = Camel *****.....Fact?

 

yes the 'female's camels private area' meaning, always thought it a bit strange but i have been told 'where to go' quite a few times when calling people mush. anyone explain this?

 

Not just the girls then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always believed the Southampton origin of 'Mush' came from the French explaination/Docks.

[unionhotel]

The best explanation I heard (and one I tend to believe) is that in the days of sailing ships Southampton dockers clambered aboard ships using the rigging. French sailors or matelots referred to them as 'mouches' which is French for flies. Hence the word mush.

Edited 7 January, 2010 by unionhotel

[St Landrew]

So is there any truth to the story I heard a few years back that 'mush' was derived from 'monsieur' by the Southampton dockers in their interactions with the large number of french sailors passing through the docks?

 

I also believe this to be the true reason. However, your reference to Southampton Dockers makes it seem [to me] as if you believe the term has only come about in the last 100-150 years. Whereas, I believe it hails from the time when the french would regularly invade the town through the seaport. Apologies, if I misunderstood.

 

I think I read somewhere [sorry, can't find it on the net, atm] that Sotonians would identify foreign strangers by calling out Monsieur, and if they got a reaction or answer in french, then the person was possibly/probably going to be french - something you certainly wouldn't want to be in England at the time.

 

Although it seems a bit simple and obvious that this could happen, it is also entirely plausible for the time. Of course, the Monsieur [pronounced Müsh-ure, if there is any doubt: note the umlaut over the letter U to change the Mush pronunciation from Mushroom] would undoubtedly have been shortened to Moosh or Müsh as often happens with names or regularly used words, over time.

 

So Mush wasn't a term of endearment or mateyness in the beginning, but something one would call a person if you didn't know their name, e.g. a stranger. It later became a general term for person. Anyway, that's my understanding of the term.

[Big John]

A 'Moosh' is your friend. Bastardised through recent histiry to be an disparaging term but ultimatley a term of endearment. If someone callem me a 'moosh' I would shake their hand.

[Wiltshire Saint]

Seems to have different usage in different places. I was confused when I started posted on S4E as it was used as a term of mateyness; whereas when I was a school in the 80s/90s in Surrey it was a "rude" slang term akin to calling someone an arsehole or ******.

 

Did you hear it a lot then?

[Lord Duckhunter]

Growing up my family used to use it, but only in the context of a "good mush". As in he's a good mush.

 

My understanding was that it was a Southampton word and this was reinforced when I worked abroad.I met a lot of English lads working abroad in the 80's, most of them Northerners. When they found out I was a saints supporter loads of time I would get "you're a mush then". Nowadays it all seems to be Scummer, but then a lot of them called saints supporters a mush.

[RonManager]

Growing up my family used to use it, but only in the context of a "good mush". As in he's a good mush.

 

My understanding was that it was a Southampton word and this was reinforced when I worked abroad.I met a lot of English lads working abroad in the 80's, most of them Northerners. When they found out I was a saints supporter loads of time I would get "you're a mush then". Nowadays it all seems to be Scummer, but then a lot of them called saints supporters a mush.

 

Was common when growing up in Winchester - always meant 'mate'.

[ottery st mary]

Grew up in Southampton 50/60s always used around the docks amongst us lads.....mate /buddies type of thing...My old man/grandad and other dockers used it all the time....nipper was another....

 

 

Mind you I was called a little james HUNT more than a few times.

Edited 8 January, 2010 by ottery st mary

[saint-luco]

I am Southampton born and bred and when I grew up in the 50`s and 60`s it was used both as a term of friendship - "Alright, Mush??" - (in fact my dad still uses it in that way) and in the same way as the word "bloke" i.e."these two Mushes were walking along the road", but as far as the origin of the word, I was told it was from the Romany meaning " man ".

 

i remember growing up in eastleigh late 60s early 70s we used the word mush quite a lot, mainly when talking about/to someone we didnt know, moved to london in 72 and didnt here it again untill i moved to chatham, where it is used in the same way, although it is also used more when talking of a lady who looks and acts like a bloke, mush-malt.

also here the word chav is used when talking about children, this i understand is the romany word for child, in the 1700s when chatham really took off as a military town there were lots of romany camps on the outskirts, these camps were shut down and the people given houses, quite a lot of romany is used in everyday speak by chatham families.

mush, chav, chockers (shoes), jook(dog). to name but a few.

but. the docker theory also holds up, as lots of french prisoners were held on prison hulks on the medway, and ive also noticed on my travels lots of dockyard sayings and card games, like eucre, seem to be present only in these towns

 

could a pendant correct my grammer please

[RedAndWhite91]

'Ere, not forgetting the Only Fools and Horses closing credits theme:

 

And Trevor Francis tracksuits from a mush in Shepherd's Bush.

[alehouseboys]

...and ive also noticed on my travels lots of dockyard sayings and card games, like eucre, seem to be present only in these towns

 

could a pendant correct my grammer please

 

...but that would just be pendantic wouldn't it...

 

My ol' man, grandad and uncles were all Southampton dockers, they always liked to rob each other of the weekly wage playing Kalooki -Jamaican Rummy (2 packs) - but they'd say 'Mush' had French origins.

[krissyboy31]

Grew up in Southampton 50/60s always used around the docks amongst us lads.....mate /buddies type of thing...My old man/grandad and other dockers used it all the time....nipper was another....

 

 

Mind you I was called a little james HUNT more than a few times.

 

Nipper of course is another. Doesn't the "Woolston Ferry" have a line something like "What on then Mush how's the nipper?" Nipper of course around here was always a young lad or apprentice. A bloke I worked with in Gloucestershire, used to call his daughter his "nipper". I couldn't get my head around that, at all.

Edited 8 January, 2010 by krissyboy31

[krissyboy31]

'Ere, not forgetting the Only Fools and Horses closing credits theme:

 

And Trevor Francis tracksuits from a mush in Shepherd's Bush.

 

My old boss came from West London (Brentford/Acton way) and called everybody Mush!!

[Whitey Grandad]

Nipper of course is another. Doesn't the "Woolston Ferry" have a line something like "What on then Mush how's the nipper?" Nipper of course around here was always a young lad or apprentice. I bloke I worked with in Gloucestershire used to call his daughter his "nipper". I couldn't get my head around that, at all.

Nipper comes from the Navy, so I'm told. In the days of sail, when raising an anchor they used two capstans linked by an endless loop of rope. The anchor cable (big rope) was tied or 'nipped' to the endless loop with smaller pieces of cord. Small boys would run alongside the cable as it was hauled in repeatedly tying and untying the cords. They were called nippers.

[PES]

Mush, is used fairly extensively in Portsmouth (Though not so much with youngsters), I remember the old 80's Pompey Fanzine Frattonize always had the tagline '10 Bob to you Mush'. Does the word 'Squinny' get used in Southampton, thats a word i'd always assumed was a Pompey word? A word I heard loads over your neck of the woods and never in Pompey is 'Gert' as in 'Very', 'It's Gert good', is that an old Hampshire term?

[The Majestic Channon]

' Mush' was originally an angloromani word used by gypsies.

[Saint137]

Squinny? In what context? I've heard it used in Southampton in the context of whinging/moaning etc - e.g FFS stop your squinnying. Gert I remember using - meaning great, big, exceptional...

[CB Fry]

Squinny is a Southampton/Hants word definitely. My brother used it to his daughter in earshot of my missus over Christmas (who is from Lincolnshire) and she'd never heard the word before. So I think that one is a southern thing.

 

Also a Southampton thing is the use of "nipper" to mean any male under about 25, in other areas (I've lived in the west and in the midlands) it seems you can only use it to describe small children. People I know in Southampton call each other nipper all the way up to our twenties and beyond.

 

And Gert is definitely a Southern thing. Great word.

[saint-luco]

 

Also a Southampton thing is the use of "nipper" to mean any male under about 25, in other areas (I've lived in the west and in the midlands) it seems you can only use it to describe small children. People I know in Southampton call each other nipper all the way up to our twenties and beyond.

 

 

yep i using nipper to describe other kids when i was young, but lost it when i moved to london, the other "nippers" at school(in london) thought i was welsh because of my accent

FFS

[Whitey Grandad]

yep i using nipper to describe other kids when i was young, but lost it when i moved to london, the other "nippers" at school(in london) thought i was welsh because of my accent

FFS

My dad was a Londoner born in 1918 and being the youngest of his family they all called him 'nipper'.

[RedAndWhite91]

I started playing cricket for the men's team at quite a young age, and one of the proper 'Aaampshire hogs, who was Tichborne born and bred, always called us young'uns 'nipper' or 'nip' in his strong Hampshire accent.

[RonManager]

Squinny is a Southampton/Hants word definitely. My brother used it to his daughter in earshot of my missus over Christmas (who is from Lincolnshire) and she'd never heard the word before. So I think that one is a southern thing.

 

Also a Southampton thing is the use of "nipper" to mean any male under about 25, in other areas (I've lived in the west and in the midlands) it seems you can only use it to describe small children. People I know in Southampton call each other nipper all the way up to our twenties and beyond.

 

And Gert is definitely a Southern thing. Great word.

 

Gert be common in Zummerset, bey.

[miserableoldgit]

Squinny is a Southampton/Hants word definitely. My brother used it to his daughter in earshot of my missus over Christmas (who is from Lincolnshire) and she'd never heard the word before. So I think that one is a southern thing.

 

Also a Southampton thing is the use of "nipper" to mean any male under about 25, in other areas (I've lived in the west and in the midlands) it seems you can only use it to describe small children. People I know in Southampton call each other nipper all the way up to our twenties and beyond.

 

And Gert is definitely a Southern thing. Great word.

I use this word quite a lot - even used it in a few posts on here. I picked it up many, many years ago from some "natives" of the New Forest where it seemed to be in general use.

[Jillyanne]

A lot of m elder relatives on the IOW use the word 'nipper' to describe their younger relations - male or female.

[sadoldgit]

When I grew up in South London "mush" was another word for face, as in have you washed your mush today. Later it was used as another word for mate.