Word To Use Today: mash.

Mash is a lovely word, a gorgeous word, a word to shout from the rooftops.

MAAAASH!

(This is not an activity I'd advise, you understand, I just think it'd be fun. I'm sure it would cheer up the whole neighbourhood - even the men in the white coats would have a spring in their steps.)

Anyway, mash: potato puree with milk and plenty of butter; bran, meal or malt mixed with water (this variety is for non-human animals); malt and hot water for making beer; a brew of tea; even a good session of flirting.

All lovely things.

And if that's all too sweet for you, how about badmash? It's from the mixture of Hindi and English which is called Hinglish, and means naughty, or hooligan. Another gorgeous word.

Word To Use Today: mash. This word has been around for ages. There was the Old English mǣsc which used to be stuck onto other words (but not potato because potatoes didn't exist in England then). Before that there was a Middle Low German word mēsch.

Badmash comes from somewhere else entirely. The bad bit is from the Persian word bad, meaning...well, bad (it's a coincidence!); and the mash bit is from the Arabic ma'āš meaning livelihood.