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 Cheshire, Staffordshire, the East Midlands, Lancashire, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.
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."
I am reading Sons and Lovers at the moment. Unfortunately it's a pain. The chapters are interminbly long. I read it and read it and it still hasn't finished.
ReplyDeletehang on in there buddy
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