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''Nesh'' is an English dialect adjective meaning 'unusually susceptible to cold weather' and there is no synonym for this use. Usage has been recorded in Staffordshire, the East Midlands, Lancashire, South Yorkshire and Shropshire.〔( :'Putting SY on the wordmap' ), BBC, 22 August 2005〕〔("Staffordshire Words - your suggestions!" ), BBC, 2005〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=A Gradely Read for Gradely Folk ), The Trouble at' Mill Guide to Lancashire Dialect〕〔("Nesh" ), Vocaboly.com, January 18, 2005〕〔OED: 1879 G. F. JACKSON Shropshire Word-bk. s.v., 'Er's a nesh piece, 'er dunna do above 'afe a day's work. Given under Sense 2: "Lacking courage, spirit, or energy; timid, faint-hearted; lazy, negligent. Now Eng. regional, chiefly north. rare."〕 There is a similar term ''nish'' used in Newfoundland.〔(Dictionary of Newfoundland English - nish )〕 The word comes from Old English ''hnesce'' meaning feeble, weak, or infirm〔(Thesaurus of Old English )〕 and is a cognate with the 16th century Dutch word ''nesch'' typically meaning damp or foolish.〔(Wiktionary - nesh )〕 The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' notes that some etymologists have suggested a connection with Old High German ''nasc'', meaning 'to eat dainty food or delicacies' (the origin of the word ''nosh''), but it dismisses this connection as "unlikely".〔''Oxford English Dictionary'' online version.〕 ''Nesh'' was added, in 2011, to the British Library 'wordbank', a project to preserve regional dialects words and phrases. ==Cultural significance== This word has been used in both literature and films where other terms have not been available to convey the particular meaning. Despite being considered a dialect word, and somewhat archaic, writers have periodically turned to it. In addition to its appearance in fiction, in the 19th century it was used in official reports as a general term for susceptibility to cold. The Middle English derivation "neshe" was used by Geoffrey Chaucer in his 1346 poem ''The Court of Love''. :"It seemeth for love his herte is tender and neshe." The earliest traceable use in modern English, in literature, was in ''Mary Barton'', written by Elizabeth Gaskell in 1848.〔("Mary Barton" ), Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell〕 Gaskell's style is notable for dignifying the use of local dialect words by putting them into the voice of her characters, and of the narrator.〔("Have at the masters"?: literary allusions in Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton" ), Studies in the Novel, June 22, 2007, Wilkes, Joan〕 It was also used in Gaskell's ''The Manchester Marriage'', written in 1858. :"Now, I'm not above being nesh for other folks myself. I can stand a good blow, and never change colour; but, set me in the operating-room in the Infirmary, and I turn as sick as a girl." :"At Mrs Wilson's death, Norah came back to them, as nurse to the newly-born little Edwin; into which post she was not installed without a pretty strong oration on the part of the proud and happy father; who declared that if he found out that Norah ever tried to screen the boy by a falsehood, or to make him nesh either in body or mind, she should go that very day."〔(Victorian Short Stories, Stories Of Successful Marriages ), The Project Gutenberg〕 In 1885 nesh formed a quarter of a curious monograph entitled ''Four dialect words, clem, lake, nesh, and oss, their modern dialectal range, meanings, pronunciation, etymology, and early or literary use'' written by Thomas Hallam.〔(Indiana State University Library - Cordell Collection )〕 Thomas Hardy used nesh in The Woodlanders, chapter 4, in 1887: :"Whenever she and her husband came to a puddle in their walks together he'd take her up like a half-penny doll and put her over without dirting her a speck. And if he keeps the daughter so long at boarding-school, he'll make her as nesh as her mother was." Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote in The Secret Garden, in 1911: :"Do you ever catch cold?" inquired Mary, gazing at him wonderingly. She had never seen such a funny boy, or such a nice one. :"Not me," he said, grinning "I never ketched cold since I was born. I wasn't brought up nesh enough. I've chased about th' moor in all weathers same as th' rabbits does." A frequently quoted use of nesh is in D. H. Lawrence's ''Sons and Lovers''. Written in 1913, we have this exchange: :"F-ff-f!" he went, pretending to shudder with cold. :"Goodness, man, don't be such a kid!" said Mrs. Morel. "It's NOT cold." :"Thee strip thysen stark nak'd to wesh thy flesh i' that scullery," said the miner, as he rubbed his hair; "nowt b'r a ice-'ouse!" :"And I shouldn't make that fuss," replied his wife. :"No, tha'd drop down stiff, as dead as a door-knob, wi' thy nesh sides."〔("Sons and Lovers", Chapter VIII 'Strife in Love' ), World Wide School Library〕 D. H. Lawrence also used nesh in ''England, My England'' (1922), Chapter 4 - Monkey Nuts: :From the background slowly approached a slender man with a grey moustache and large patches on his trousers. :'You've got'im back 'gain, ah see,' he said to his daughter-in-law. His wife explained how I had found Joey. :'Ah,' went on the grey man. 'It wor our Alfred scared him off, back your life. He must'a flyed ower t'valley. Tha ma' thank thy stars as 'e wor fun, Maggie. 'E'd a bin froze. They a bit nesh, you know,' he concluded to me. :'They are,' I answered. 'This isn't their country.'〔("England, My England", Chapter 4 'Monkey Nuts' ), Literature.org〕 The word also appears in the fourth line of Lawrence's "The Risen Lord" (1929): :The risen lord, the risen lord :has risen in the flesh, :and treads the earth to feel the soil :though his feet are still nesh. The same usage also appears in a much less salubrious context, in the 1985 song "Now 'E's A Puff", by The Macc Lads. Part of one line of the first verse says: : He's gone all nesh, he's makin' us sick... Usage continued to be fairly local until the word reached an international audience in the film ''The Full Monty''. This was shot during 1997 on location in Sheffield. In this film nesh was used in the context of feeling cold when others don't.〔('The Full Monty' ), Sheffield on the Internet〕 Since the appearance in the film the word, used for lacking courage, has occurred in the national press. Nowadays, it is considered to be a gently derogatory comment, that can be used to a friend. An example might be 'Why are you wearing a coat? That's a bit nesh isn't it?'. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nesh」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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