Discolored pins and saddle?

[davismanLV]

I could totally get off into the "newer vs. newish" thing but.... I'll listen to some music and play a guitar, and .... the moment will pass. It will. Any minute now.

Okay soonish.... any f... minute now....

I'm still waiting.

 

[chazmo]

I think that business of putting "ish" on adjectives like new, soon, etc. is colloquial. Whether or not it's a real word, it's mostly meant to be amusing, in my opinion, like "underwhelmed." But, hey, that's just me talking.

 

[dwasifar]

I think that business of putting "ish" on adjectives like new, soon, etc. is colloquial. Whether or not it's a real word, it's mostly meant to be amusing, in my opinion, like "underwhelmed." But, hey, that's just me talking.

Well, it's in dictionaries, not marked as slang or informal, and apparently the word dates back to the mid-1500s, which was news to me. I regarded it as sort of jaunty and amusing, but worthwhile for its subtle distinction from "new" or "newer."

 

[chazmo]

Eh... Not sure about it being "worthwhile" dwasifar, but we can agree to disagree.

 

[Opsimath]

I could totally get off into the "newer vs. newish" thing but.... I'll listen to some music and play a guitar, and .... the moment will pass. It will. Any minute now.

Okay soonish.... any f... minute now....

I'm still waiting.

Sooner than soonish. Would that be soon enough?

 

[fronobulax]

Well I seem to be getting into spats about language recently so I will try and control myself

Idiomatically the suffix "ish" is used to indicate close similarity but not exactness. Something is either new or it isn't. If it isn't strictly new, but closer to new than old, newish or almost new or nearly new all convey the same sense. Newer involves a comparison and again, a is either newer than b (or it isn't, remembering that neither item is newer if they are the same age).

I sometimes use -ish to indicate inexactness. "The time when Hoboken labels stopped appearing in Westerly built guitars was 1972-ish." I am trying to tell you that 1972 is close, but could be off by a couple years and/or I am trying to tell you that I don't know the exact date or have not been able to look it up.

 

[chazmo]

Well I seem to be getting into spats about language recently so I will try and control myself

Idiomatically the suffix "ish" is used to indicate close similarity but not exactness. Something is either new or it isn't. If it isn't strictly new, but closer to new than old, newish or almost new or nearly new all convey the same sense. Newer involves a comparison and again, a is either newer than b (or it isn't, remembering that neither item is newer if they are the same age).

I sometimes use -ish to indicate inexactness. "The time when Hoboken labels stopped appearing in Westerly built guitars was 1972-ish." I am trying to tell you that 1972 is close, but could be off by a couple years and/or I am trying to tell you that I don't know the exact date or have not been able to look it up.

What he said. Exactly-ish.

Seriously, though. Where "new" has a specific, non-vague meaning like in guitar sales, "newish" is essentially a bogus word. Newish would mean used. Period.

 

[walrus]

As frono pretty much said already, from the usual source - Words ending with the suffix -ish are often adjectives, but this suffix has several senses. The suffix -ish is flexibly used with a base word to denote "somewhat, somewhat prone to, or somewhat like." For example, we have ticklish, reddish-blue, stylish, childish, boyish, a waspish tongue, a foolish old woman, a coldish wind.

Not to be confused with "ish" being used differently, in things like Finnish, Danish, Scottish, etc.

And, there are "ish" words like astonish, tarnish, polish, etc. where "ish" is used in another way.

Lastly, words like fish, dish, wish, etc. are just words that end in "ish", nothing more.

But when you add the "-", apparently you can put "ish" on anything you want. As frono did with "1972-ish". Anything goes - that movie was scary-ish, I'm feeling sort of sick-ish, that dog is friendly-ish, my wallet is empty-ish, and so on. No rules with the "-".

BTW, this thread is becoming very veer-ish.

walrus

 

[fronobulax]

I am reminded of the following joke:

A mathematician and an engineer are at one side of a room and a "desirable object" is at the other side. They are told that every 10 seconds they are allowed to advance half the distance to the object. The mathematician is sad and announces that they will never get to the desirable object because it will take an infinite amount of time. But the engineer is happy because fairly soon they will be "close enough for all practical purposes".

Somehow it seems to me that the engineer would be more comfortable with "new-ish" than the mathematician.

 

[Nuuska]

There is a subtle shade of meaning separating newer and newish, which is what I was getting at when I chose that word, but it didn't occur to me that people for whom English is a second language would miss it. That's a failure on my part. Entschuldigen Sie bitte.

(and no, I did not have to look that up. )

Hyväksytähän ny sitte - kuhan ei alvarihinsa tavaksi tuppaa . . .

 

[dwasifar]

A mathematician and an engineer are at one side of a room and a "desirable object" is at the other side. They are told that every 10 seconds they are allowed to advance half the distance to the object. The mathematician is sad and announces that they will never get to the desirable object because it will take an infinite amount of time. But the engineer is happy because fairly soon they will be "close enough for all practical purposes".

I heard it as they were on one pier and had to go to a different pier, by halves, as you describe.

This is known as Zeno's pair o'docks.

 

[dwasifar]

What he said. Exactly-ish.

Seriously, though. Where "new" has a specific, non-vague meaning like in guitar sales, "newish" is essentially a bogus word. Newish would mean used. Period.

So a 1930 Model T is newish? It is used, after all.

(Just yanking your chain here, no offense intended.)

 

[fronobulax]

So a 1930 Model T is newish? It is used, after all.

(Just yanking your chain here, no offense intended.)

Vintage. That probably commands a premium and reduces the cost of automobile registration in some states.

 

[walrus]

My 2011 Subaru Outback is now vintage-ish.

walrus

 

[Heath]

So a 1930 Model T is newish? It is used, after all.

(Just yanking your chain here, no offense intended.)

A 1930 Model T is not newish as it doesn’t exist!!

 

[davismanLV]

My 2004 Nissan Frontier just got an oil change today. In 2 years I can apply for a "Classic Car" or "Classic Rod" license plate here in Nevada!! Then, no more emissions testing!! (It always passes but they just milk you like crazy) Of course, my dilemma is to give up my current plate I've had since I got the truck. I remember going into the DMV here and they had piles of license plates behind the counter. She grabbed one and I said, rather excitedly, "Can I have that one???" She went well, yeah I guess if you want. So she grabbed it and I've been 069 STR ever since. Let your imaginations run wild. I've never not known my license. Ever!!

 

[geoguy]

That's just . . . wrong.

Wouldn't you like to have a new-ish license plate for your vintage truck?

 

[chazmo]

A 1930 Model T is not newish as it doesn’t exist!!

Bwahahahaha!!!! I love it. dwasifar, you're busted.... ish.

 

[chazmo]

My 2004 Nissan Frontier just got an oil change today. In 2 years I can apply for a "Classic Car" or "Classic Rod" license plate here in Nevada!! Then, no more emissions testing!! (It always passes but they just milk you like crazy) Of course, my dilemma is to give up my current plate I've had since I got the truck. I remember going into the DMV here and they had piles of license plates behind the counter. She grabbed one and I said, rather excitedly, "Can I have that one???" She went well, yeah I guess if you want. So she grabbed it and I've been 069 STR ever since. Let your imaginations run wild. I've never not known my license. Ever!!

That's cool, Tom. I thought it was 25 years for a classic/antique status, but great!

I used to have "CHAZMO" (it was a college nickname), as a personal plate here in MA, but gave it up. In MA, for a personal plate (6letters/numbers of your choice) you'd pay every year, rather than every two, and it was twice the price as regular plates. So, 4x overall. I just couldn't justify that after a while.

 

[fronobulax]

That's cool, Tom. I thought it was 25 years for a classic/antique status, but great!

Usually but some places are 20 and Florida is 30.

Find out how to get an antique license plate for your classic car.

If your car qualifies as a collector or vintage car you may be eligible to get a vintage license plate. Classic car plate regulations vary from state to state.

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