Shish

Part of speech: interjection, verb, adjective, noun

Pronunciation: /ʃɪʃ/

Definitions

1. A dish consisting of seasoned meat or vegetables grilled on skewers
2. A term often used in Middle Eastern cuisine, typically referring to kebabs
3. A popular style of cooking where food is threaded onto sticks and cooked over an open flame

Etymology: The word "shish" has two separate stories that happen to meet in the spelling. The meaning "grilled meat skewers" comes from Turkish "şiş", which simply means "skewer" and is the same word that gives the Turkish name for the dish, "şiş kebap". English borrowed the term for the skewer, and the grilled food that hangs on it, with the sense of a skewer as the thing that holds the meat. The interjection and verb uses, meaning to hush someone, are a different word entirely. They are a phonetic alteration of "shush", a sound made to quiet people, so the hissing "sh" of the command has been sharpened into a sharper, quicker form. Nothing links that sense to the Turkish skewer; the two only share a sound.