Mash vs Mush - What's the difference?

In uncountable terms the difference between mash and mush

is that mash is a mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state while mush is a mess, often of food; a soft or semisolid substance.

In transitive terms the difference between mash and mush

is that mash is to press down hard (on) while mush is to notch, cut, or indent (cloth, etc.) with a stamp.

As an acronym MASH

is mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

As an interjection mush is

a directive given (usually to dogs or a horse) to start moving, or to move faster.

As a proper noun Mush is

a historically Armenian city in the Turuberan province of Greater Armenia, now in eastern Turkey.

mash

English

Etymology 1

See mesh

Noun

(es)

(obsolete) A mesh

Etymology 2

From (etyl) mash, . See (l).

Noun

(uncountable) A mass of mixed ingredients reduced to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; a mass of anything in a soft pulpy state.

In brewing, ground or bruised malt, or meal of rye, wheat, corn, or other grain (or a mixture of malt and meal) steeped and stirred in hot water for making the wort.

Mashed potatoes.

A mixture of meal or bran and water fed to animals.

(obsolete): A mess; trouble.

(Beaumont and Fletcher)

Derived terms

* mash tun * mash vat

Verb

(es)

To convert into a mash; to reduce to a soft pulpy state by beating or pressure; to bruise; to crush; as, to mash apples in a mill, or potatoes with a pestle. Specifically (Brewing), to convert, as malt, or malt and meal, into the mash which makes wort.

To press down hard (on).

to mash on a bicycle pedal

(transitive, southern US, informal) to press.

(UK) To prepare a cup of tea (in a teapot), alternative to brew; used mainly in Northern England

* 1913 ,

He took the kettle off the fire and mashed the tea.

Derived terms

* mashing * mashed potato, mashed potatoes * bangers and mash * mashup

Etymology 3

Either Mash Note] at World Wide Words[http://books.google.com/books?id=j41z0yeKbeIC&pg=PA195&dq=masher The City in Slang], by Irving L. Allen, [http://books.google.com/books?id=j41z0yeKbeIC&pg=PA195&dq=masher p. 195] by analogy withThe Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology,'' as cited at [http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2007/03/mash-notes.html The Grammarphobia Blog: Mash notes], March 16, 2007 . Originally used in theater,Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang and recorded in US in 1870s. Either originally used as mash, or a backformation from (masher), from (masha). Leland writes of the etymology:Preface to poem “The Masher”, in his ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=B2GmNo96450C Songs of the Sea and Lays of the Land], [http://books.google.com/books?id=B2GmNo96450C&printsec=frontcover

PPA243,M1 p. 243] ([http://www.archive.org/stream/songsofthesea00lelarich/songsofthesea00lelarich_djvu.txt full text)

: It was introduced by the well-known gypsy family of actors, C., among whom Romany was habitually spoken. The word “masher” or “mash” means in that tongue to allure, delude, or entice. It was doubtless much aided in its popularity by its quasi-identity with the English word. But there can be no doubt as to the gypsy origin of “mash” as used on the stage. I am indebted for this information to the late well-known impresario [Albert Marshall] Palmer of New York, and I made a note of it years before the term had become at all popular.

Verb

to flirt, to make eyes, to make romantic advances

Noun

(es)

(obsolete) an infatuation, a crush, a fancy

(obsolete) a dandy, a masher

(obsolete) the object of one’s affections (either sex)

Derived terms

* (l) * (l)

References

Anagrams

* * * *

mush

English

Etymology 1

Probably a variant of mash, or from a dialectal variant of (etyl) mos . See also .

Noun

(mushes)

(uncountable) A mess, often of food; a soft or semisolid substance.

Mom said to add the potatoes to the mush .

Verb

To squish so as to break into smaller pieces or to combine with something else.

He mushed the ingredients together.

Derived terms

* apple-mush * mushy

Etymology 2

Simple contraction of mushroom.

Noun

(mushes)

(Quebecois English, slang) magic mushrooms

Synonyms

* shroom (slang)

Etymology 3

From (etyl) muos and (etyl) , or any thick preparation of fruit.

Noun

(-)

A food comprising cracked or rolled grains cooked in water or milk; porridge.

(rural USA) cornmeal cooked in water and served as a porridge or as a thick sidedish like grits or mashed potatoes.

Etymology 4

Believed to be a contraction of mush on, in turn a corruption of (etyl) , the cry of the voyageurs and coureurs de bois to their dogs.

Interjection

(en interjection)

A directive given (usually to dogs or a horse) to start moving, or to move faster.

When the lone cowboy saw the Indians, he yelled mush , cha, giddyup!

Noun

(mushes)

A walk, especially across the snow with dogs.

Verb

To walk, especially across the snow with dogs.

To drive dogs, usually pulling a sled, across the snow.

* 1910 , Jack London,

Together the two men loaded and lashed the sled. They warmed their hands for the last time, pulled on their mittens, and mushed the dogs over the bank and down to the river-trail.

Etymology 5

From (etyl) .

Noun

(mushes)
(British, primarily Southern England, slang) A form of address to a man.

:* "'Oy, mush ! Get out of it!'
That's what we'd say
Barging the locals
Out of the way"
— MAUREEN AND DOREEN AND NOREEN AND ME'', ''Peculiar Poems , [http://www.jclamb.com/]

:* "When I'm around it's not uncommon for someone to call me and say :'Oy mush , get your bum over here and give us a hand.'" — THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING: In Which King Arthur Uther Pendragon Grants An Interview [http://arthurpendragon.ukonline.co.uk/arthur.html]

(British, primarily Northern England, slang) The face

:* "My ugly mush finally found its way onto the www, but not in the manner to which I deserved." — [http://owlfarm.pmgr.net/aspen/hst16.htm]

:* 2002:"I grew my face fungus to cover up an ugly mush ." — [http://www.maggotdrowning.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=809]

:* "and your bird has an ugly mush " — [http://b3ta.com/board/archive/21323/]

Synonyms

* (form of address to a man) mate (UK), pal (especially US) * (the face) mug

References

* Take Our Word for It Issue 101, accessed on 2005-05-09

Etymology 6

Compare (etyl) .

Verb

To notch, cut, or indent (cloth, etc.) with a stamp.

Anagrams

* English heteronyms English intransitive verbs English terms with multiple etymologies ----