bash English · revision 39463

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=a1642, H. Best, Farming and Memorandum Books}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /bæʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) One view, found in the OED and Barnhart, takes it from a Scandinavian source, comparing [[sv|basa|t=to baste, whip, flog]] and [[da|baske|t=to beat, strike, cudgel]];^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline suggests an [[non|*baska|t=to strike]].^(Etymonline) The other view treats it as imitative, with the ''b-'' of [[beat]] and [[bang]] and the ending of [[dash]], [[lash]] and [[smash]];^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the Oxford Dictionary of English and Hoad suggest a blend of ''bang'' with ''smash'' or ''dash''.^(ODE 2010)^(Hoad 1986) Klein calls it imitative and compares the Scandinavian verbs,^(Klein 1966) Etymonline allows that the whole group may have arisen independently,^(Etymonline) and Dictionary.com suggests an alteration of [[pash]], to strike.^(Dictionary.com 2016) The OED notes that the verb was chiefly northern.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a hen, to beat its wings in the dust: a1642, in Henry Best's farming books.^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates the verb, "to smash", to 1641,^(Barnhart 1988) and Merriam-Webster gives 1744 for the sense of striking violently.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb meant to strike with a heavy blow that dents or smashes a surface.^(OED 2026) The noun, a heavy blow, appears first in Scots in 1805,^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) and the English Dialect Dictionary records it across Scotland and the north of England, as well as a Worcestershire use of the verb for rain beating plants down.^(Wright 1898) From ''on the bash'', "on a drinking spree" (1901), came the sense of a lively party, first in American slang;^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) the meaning "an attempt", as in ''have a bash'', is recorded by 1945.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense "to attack in words" dates from 1948,^(Etymonline) and dictionaries now give it for harsh public criticism.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) In underworld slang a ''bash'' was a robbery, such as a smash-and-grab raid (1935), and ''on the bash'' also meant working as a street prostitute (1946).^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1641 – to smash, according to Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) a1642 in the OED, of a hen beating her wings.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1790 – to strike so as to dent or smash.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1805 – as a noun, a heavy blow, first in Scots.^(OED 2026)^(Wright 1898)

+ * 1833 – ''bash at'', to strike out at.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1901 – ''on the bash'', on a spree, which led to the sense of a party.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+ * 1935 – in underworld slang, a robbery or raid.^(GDoS)

+ * 1945 – an attempt.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1948 – to criticise harshly.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1950 – ''bash on'', to persevere regardless.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1954 – ''bash up'', to beat someone up.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1990 – a makeshift shelter, shortened from ''basher''.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To strike violently or hard; to [[smash]] or dent with a blow.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To crash or collide into something.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To [[criticize]] harshly, especially in public.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (British) ''bash on'': to keep going regardless of difficulties.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A heavy blow.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (informal) A lively [[party]] or celebration.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (chiefly British, informal) An attempt, as in ''have a bash at''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A makeshift [[shelter]], especially one put up by a homeless person.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[basher]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bang]]

+ * [[smash]]

+ * [[dash]]

+ * [[lash]]

+ * [[abash]]

+ * [[bashful]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ An older verb ''bash'', an aphetic form of [[abash]], meant to dismay or to be ashamed (c1375–1610);^(OED 2026) it survived only in dialect.^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) defined it as "to be ashamed", quoting Spenser,^(Johnson 1755) and the English Dialect Dictionary records it in Scotland and the Midlands, as in Burns (1787), with a Lancashire adjective ''bash'' meaning shy.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}