I’m actually posting to ask about the popular English language phenomenon, not the Get Fuzzy comic strip from last Sunday. But I will have to explain the premise of the strip before diving into my question.
The characters are Robb Wilco, an unmarried Boston advertising man (IIRC), and his two talking, erect walking pets–Satchel the kind hearted, slow witted, and childlike Bassett Hound mix, and Bucky, the opinionated and acerbic cat who, somewhere along the way lost one of his upper fangs, hence–“Bucky”. Robb being a Caucasian who lives in Boston, and probably doesn’t see much sun during the cold months, Bucky often alludes to the pinkish color of his skin.
So last Sunday, he walks in and says, “What up Doggish? What up Pinkish”? First of all, I’m thinking it should be Doggage and Pinkage, as in my thread title. I’ve seen, heard, and occasionally even used the -age ending for humorous effect for a long time, but I’ve never seen it spelled -ish. As far back as the 1970s I remember hearing people say spillage (of beer), or spliffage (of you know perfectly well what). Is the -ish spelling a common variant of -age, or does it mean something else entirely?
And how far back do these usages of -age and -ish go? Where does it come from? Until I remembered hearing it in the 1970s, I thought it must be a rap or hip-hop thing, but that can’t be right if it’s at least thirty-five years old.
I’d guess it’s akin to English and Flemish and Polish, “of the nationality pink,” “of the dog tribe.” “-age” I associate with quantities, as in, “Hungry…I’m scrounging foodage – want in?”
FWIW, Bucky has been calling Rob “Pinkish” for years. I’d have to dig out my Get Fuzzy books to even come close to finding the first time he called him that. In my mind, the derivation has always been clear: Rob is, color-wise, pink. Sort of.
He’s pink-ish.
I don’t get why you think he’s using a word he made up incorrectly.
Of course I get that Robb is “pinkish”. Doggish must just be a follow on to that.
I’m a little saddened to realize he probably didn’t mean to write “Doggage” and “Pinkage”. To me it would have just been so much cooler.
FTR the -age ending, in the usage I’m referring to, is not the same as -ish. Pinkish is pinkish. As the “-age” colloquialism was originally used, it was some unspecified, but presumably significant amount of a physical item (e.g. “spliffage”), or something someone did, like “spillage” (of a drink that you’re holding). Granted, “spillage” isn’t really a colloquialism, because it is a word in standard English. However, in the world of alcohol-fueled college parties, it was unexpected enough that it was funny by context. If you called someone Pinkage it would have meant he had a serious or significant amount of pinkness going on. Depending on the context, it could be about the same as “pinkish”, but otherwise it could mean much pinker, or less pink, depending on the situation.
By the early 1990s, I remember hearing its use expanded to all sorts of words and names for humorous effect. If someone’s name was Frank you might call him Frankage.
Pauly Shore did always have a slight “surfer” affect. I wonder if the -age thing came out of surfer culture? My uni, UCSD, was almost on the beach and there have always been a lot of students there who surf.
Satchel is half lab and half wrinkle dog. From Canada, a source of derision for Bucky, whose main problem is he isn’t half as smart as he believes he is.
ETA: I should have mentioned that it was at UCSD I started to hear this expression, in the 1970s, though it was probably clear enough from the context.
I’m almost certain that Satchel is half poodle and half shar pei. I base that on a dim memory of Rob having to stop Bucky from calling Satchel (presumably) a “poo-pei.”