Whimsy on a Wednesday – Because Precision is Overrated (Apparently) and We Like Navigating Life with a Side of Absurdity!

The Mysterious Case of the ‘Ish’

The other day I arranged to meet a friend to deliver something. A straightforward transaction, or so I thought.

“What time?” I asked.

“About ten-ish,” came the texted reply.

I paused. Ten-ish.

Now, I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person. I can navigate the baffling world of modern technology, operate a cafetière without incident, and even hold a conversation without offending people—on the whole, mostly. But vague timekeeping? That’s where my brain throws in the towel and sulks in the corner.

Do I ask for clarification? Do I push back against this wishy-washy woolliness? Or do I simply accept my fate and turn up somewhere in the hazy, undefined realm of ish?

I am not really a fan of an ish . Unless of course, it’s me doing the ish-ing. Then I am deeply, unapologetically ish. My approach to life can be described as artistic chaos with whimsy and spontaneity when it suits me, but ruthlessly punctual when it comes to actual arrangements. If I say 10 o’clock, I mean 10 o’clock. Not ish. Not roughly. Not give or take half an hour and a croissant.

And yet, here I was, on the receiving end of an ish and it was throwing my entire morning into disarray.

The Elastic Nature of ‘Ish’

So, what does ten-ish actually mean?

• Is it a couple of minutes past ten?
• Is it a vague, middle-of-the-hour kind of thing?
• Does it stretch as far as 10:30, or is that pushing it into late-ish territory?
• What about 10:40? Is that still ish, or is it now officially “Sorry, I lost track of time”?

You see, ish is a slippery little creature. It’s like jelly and cream: wobbly, unreliable, and difficult to pin down. Some people might have a very narrow ish window (plus or minus five minutes), while others may operate on an ish spectrum so vast you could measure it in time zones.

I realised this was a prime example of the great divide between the chronologically disciplined and the laissez-faire ish-ers of the world.

“Punctuality is a virtue of the bored, darling!”

Some people live by their clocks. Others drift through time like an unmoored raft, floating vaguely towards a deadline whenever the tide washes up.

And those two groups? Natural enemies.

Field Research: Testing the ‘Ish’ Waters

Determined to uncover the truth, I devised a cunning plan.

I would arrive at exactly 10:00 and let my friend’s reaction and arrival be my guide. If they looked startled and said, “Oh, you’re early,” then ish clearly meant 10:15 or later. If they appeared on time then ish was a mere decorative flourish meaning precisely nothing at all. If they didn’t turn up until 10:40, then I would have to assume ish means “whenever I feel like it,” in which case all bets were off and we were dealing with an advanced level of fluidity.

However, my experiment was cruelly cut short. My friend fell ill and cancelled.

This meant two things:

• I still had no concrete evidence of the acceptable ish margins.
• I was now left with an unresolved philosophical dilemma AND an undelivered package.

Would I get another chance to crack the ish code? Or should I start demanding precise timings from everyone in my life? “Don’t ish me, I’ll ish you!” might have to become my new motto.

Next time someone tells me ish, I’m not setting a stopwatch, I’m not going to ponder over it for days like an obsessive loon, instead, I am going to take the wisdomous advice of my nest of readers. Please give me your near-ish-to-the-minute answers below. 

And over at my Art Philosophy blog where art is Queen- do you want to turn your blobs into art? Then please  Go here.