wishy-washyとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

Reduplication of washy; more at Wikipedia under ablaut reduplication. The wish portion of the term is explained much more by the ablaut reduplication than by any coincidental semantic appropriateness (such as that wishy-washy people wish that they could have it both ways), although the latter effect may play some nonzero cognitive role in word-finding. Compare also swish, swash, splish, and splash regarding any possible sound symbolism.

発音

• (英国発音) IPA: /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɒʃ.i/
• (米国発音) IPA: /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɑ.ʃi/, /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɔ.ʃi/

形容詞

wishy-washy (comparative wishy-washier or more wishy-washy, superlative wishy-washiest or most wishy-washy)

1. Wavering; lacking in commitment, certainty, support, and (often) clarity; namby-pamby.

   Coordinate terms: murky, opaque; unhelpful, wobbling

   Near-synonyms: vacillating, vacillatory

   Not wanting to be pressed for details, public relations gave a wishy-washy answer.

   • 2023 July 17, Rhymer Rigby, “Sick of this Conservative government? That shouldn’t stop you having Tory friends”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     I’m not about to vote Conservative myself (I’m a wishy-washy centrist who liked Tony Blair’s early work and has since mostly voted Labour, with an occasional swing to the Liberal Democrats and Greens) […]

2. Thin or watery.

   Near-synonyms: watered-down, diluted, dilute

   The wishy-washy orange juice served by the cafeteria not only failed to be sweet; it was barely orange.

   • 1915, “Maine booze turns an iron tub blue”, in The Mixer and Server:

     Usually the quality of the liquor is judged by the "bite" of it. The hotter the better. A drink of first class, aged whisky would be ridiculed in most parts of Maine as a wishy-washy beverage fit only for mollycoddles. The Down East "soak" wants something that stings and burns all the way, and usually he gets it […]

   • 2006, Gipsy Petulengro, Romany Hints for Outdoor Living and Tips for Ramblers, page 7:

     And you will appreciate drinking the hot cup, or rather billy, of tea—which is more than one can call the wishy-washy concoction served up in some 'tea-houses'.

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