I am Southampton born and bred and when I grew up in the 50`s and 60`s it was used both as a term of friendship - "Alright, Mush??" - (in fact my dad still uses it in that way) and in the same way as the word "bloke" i.e."these two Mushes were walking along the road", but as far as the origin of the word, I was told it was from the Romany meaning " man ".
i remember growing up in eastleigh late 60s early 70s we used the word mush quite a lot, mainly when talking about/to someone we didnt know, moved to london in 72 and didnt here it again untill i moved to chatham, where it is used in the same way, although it is also used more when talking of a lady who looks and acts like a bloke, mush-malt.
also here the word chav is used when talking about children, this i understand is the romany word for child, in the 1700s when chatham really took off as a military town there were lots of romany camps on the outskirts, these camps were shut down and the people given houses, quite a lot of romany is used in everyday speak by chatham families.
mush, chav, chockers (shoes), jook(dog). to name but a few.
but. the docker theory also holds up, as lots of french prisoners were held on prison hulks on the medway, and ive also noticed on my travels lots of dockyard sayings and card games, like eucre, seem to be present only in these towns
could a pendant correct my grammer please
