mash

name

Etymology: Probably an alteration of Marsh, a topological surname from Old English mersċ ("bog, swamp, marsh"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *móri ("sea; standing water").

1. A surname.

noun

1. Acronym of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
2. Initialism of municipal, academic, schools and hospitals

   “Don, who is now a member of the Kings Counsel, has been practicing law for over four decades. Focused on municipal law in the MASH sector, his law firm, Lidstone and Company – Barristers and Solicitors has evolved to include 26 lawyers, two articling students and 12 support staff.”

verb

Etymology: Either by analogy with mash (“to press, to soften”), or more likely from Romani masha (“a fascinator, an enticer”), mashdva (“fascination, enticement”). Originally used in theater, and recorded in US in 1870s. Either originally used as mash, or a backformation from masher, from masha. Leland writes of the etymology: : 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.

1. To flirt, to make eyes, to make romantic advances.

   ““What's the yarn about your mashing a Miss Haverley up there? Not serious, I hope?””