Nearish

[Jacki]

Am I going mad or was Nearish accepted as a common word in recent times? I played it in the challenge game which had VARNISHES as the main word and was surprised when it was classed as rare.

[mkenuk]

Just my personal opinion but, if only for the sake of consistency, I think that all  adjectives with  -ish should be classed as 'uncommon'.

I can't remember the seedwords but I do recall that oldish came up in a recent game and was 'common'.

In the very next game newish was playable and that was 'rare'!

'Go figure,' as they say!

[TRex]

Am I going mad or was Nearish accepted as a common word in recent times? I played it in the challenge game which had VARNISHES as the main word and was surprised when it was classed as rare.

Looking at the Word List Suggestions page, I see nearish was added nearly 10½ years ago, but no change of status is shown. Apparently, it was added as a rare word and has remained so.

Just my personal opinion but, if only for the sake of consistency, I think that all  adjectives with  -ish should be classed as 'uncommon'.

IMNSHO, I think that would be too broad a brush. That would eliminate, e.g. foolish, selfish, garnish, childish, lavish, sluggish, boyish, etc.

[Jacki]

Thanks for that. I did look at the list but gave up - certainly going back ten years was a fantastic effort.

[Alan W]

Thanks for that. I did look at the list but gave up - certainly going back ten years was a fantastic effort.

You can sort the list alphabetically, Jacki. Or use the browser's Find in Page function.

The issue is probably not as broad as all words ending with ish (fish?) More a matter of adjective + ish or adverb + ish.

[mkenuk]

Just my personal opinion but, if only for the sake of consistency, I think that all  adjectives with  -ish should be classed as 'uncommon'.

IMNSHO, I think that would be too broad a brush. That would eliminate, e.g. foolish, selfish, garnish, childish, lavish, sluggish, boyish, etc.

Indeed.
I didn't express myself very clearly.
Words formed from adjective/adverb + ish, eg largish, latish, earlyish etc were what I had in mind.

[anona]

Are colours perhaps the most common "-ish" adjectives formed from an adjective? E.g. greenish (in a REFRESHING game) pinkish, yellowish ... 
 

[Jacki]

Well you must all think I'm such a dunderhead! I didn't realise you could search at all! Is that cheating or checking?

[TRex]

Well you must all think I'm such a dunderhead! I didn't realise you could search at all! Is that cheating or checking?

Several years ago, I read an article about someone who worked for Google who did user usability testing. He said approximately 90% of users were unaware of the <Ctrl>+<F> function for searching a web page. I'd thought most everyone knew about the <Ctrl>+<F> function for searching in almost all apps. But I'm sure he had access to a lot more user testing data than I'll ever see, so assume his numbers were correct. So being a part of the 90% makes you very normal!

When teaching computer classes, the hardest thing for me is to know what to cover — you cannot just ask: users don't know what they don't know!

[Jacki]

Thanks T-Rex. You're exactly right. And I'm always the one asking questions (dumb or not)!

[mkenuk]

I'm most definitely part of the 90%.
I can get my computer to do everything I want it to - connect to the internet and create and print a Word document.

Most people, at least those of my generation, the 'baby-boomers', were never taught how to use a computer;
as a result, I have no real idea about all the things my PC, or even my Smartphone, is capable of.

I do have a copy of 'Complete Idiot's Guide to Computers' which I bought in a fit of enthusiasm about 10 years ago. I think I got to page 8 before deciding that I wasn't really interested.

[cmh]

I went to a night school class about 30 years ago in an attempt to "learn"computing. It was billed as being for beginners but the teacher did not understand why I asked him to show me how to switch a computer on. All he could say was that it already was so I could begin the class! I pointed out that as a beginner I would like to know HOW to begin! I only did about 3 classes and never touched a computer again until they began to appear in my line of work and I had to pick it up as I went along as Mike has said. I am still a beginner!