mash

The Evolution of Mash

Those shot by Cupid's arrow know that love can spur a desire to hold one's beloved tightly and never let go. Perhaps that embracing feeling of love is why mash, originally a word for an act of squeezing and crushing, became a term for an intense infatuation, or the object of it, in 1870. The more popular crush showed its loving side in 1884, and main squeeze had begun crossing the lips of sweethearts by 1926. Mash itself is not widely used today, but the compound mash note, referring to a love letter, has enjoyed many happy years since its union in 1890.