josh
verbEtymology Disputed origin, first attested in the mid-19th century. The earliest example is capitalized, therefore is likely derived from the proper name Joshua.
1
To tease someone in a kindly or friendly fashion.
- "My dear Polly. I welcome criticism, but this is mere——" Lady Wetherby stroked his coat sleeve fondly. "Never mind, Algie, I was only joshing you, precious.[…]"1915, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, Uneasy Money, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, published 17 March 1916, →OCLC, page 171:
2
To make or exchange good-natured jokes.
- We are old friends, did I not tell you? So I may, what you Americans call, josh with him.1902, Jack London, chapter XIV, in A Daughter of the Snows:
- “Cut that joshing out,” she said, coolly and briskly. “Who do you think you are talking to? Your check, please. Oh, Lordy!—”1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Girl and the Habit”, in Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC:
1 more example
- Boris, it seems, is taking it in this spirit, joshing beneath his ever-redeeming barnet that Labour's opposition to military action in Syria is a fey stance that he, as GQ politician of the year, would never be guilty of.2013 September 13, Russell Brand, “Russell Brand and the GQ awards”, in The Guardian:
- Related terms
- rogan josh