Sesh

Sesh is a colloquial or slang short form of session,", Second Edition, Addition Series 1993"] and is also a short form of seisiun, a word used by the Irish. Generally, "sesh" refers to a period of time spent engaged in some group activity. Increasingly, it has come to mean, particularly among young people, an informal, often impromptu, get-together or meeting to perform a group activity, usually with an element of excitement or air of conviviality. [Examples of such usage can be found in Usenet groups. For instance, playing video games together: "Halo [http://groups.google.com/group/uk.games.video.xbox/browse_thread/thread/f82001d30ce146bc/3cb33663c210a803?lnk=gst&q=sesh#3cb33663c210a803 "sesh"] (2002). Surfing: "Went out for a quick [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.surfing/browse_thread/thread/3c9b29db80796d0/160179353d488b1c?lnk=gst&q=sesh#160179353d488b1c "sesh"] today in Huntington. Wore my spring suit." (2003)] Although a "sesh" may or may not have a defined goal to accomplish, it generally encompasses an implicit goal of a social bonding experience.

Origin

In the UK, "sesh" is used colloquially as short for seisiun, which is a term that has been used by the Irish for centuries, particularly with regard to music played in pubs. [2007, Camille DeAngelis, "Moon Ireland", Avalon Travel, ISBN 1598800485, page 536. 2006, Joseph Lee & Marion R. Casey, "Making the Irish American", NYU Press, ISBN 081475208X, page 414. Also see http://pweb.jps.net/~jgilder/seisiun.html] In the UK and Australia, "sesh" also refers to a period of sustained social drinking. ["The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Vol. II", 2005, and Dalzell Victor Eds, Published by Taylor & Francis, ISBN 041525938X, page 1699.] "Sesh" began appearing more commonly in print during World War II. [E.g., "Empty lager bottles . . . signified that Hans and Fritz also knew the joys of a desert "sesh"." 1944, George Netherwood, "Desert Squadron", Cairo, R. Schindler, page 119.] By the 1980s "sesh" appeared in the middle-class culture of British youths. ["The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang", Tony Thorne, 1990, Published by Pantheon Books, ISBN 0679737065, page 448.] Today a music festival in the UK offers original live music nights called The Sesh at Kingston upon Hull. [ Schedules for The Sesh concerts are posted at http://www.thisisull.com/.]

Since World War II, the use of the word "sesh" has expanded beyond the UK and Australia, to the United States, likely precipitated by the exposure of US soldiers to their UK and Australian comrades. Since at least the 1960s, "sesh" has been used in the US to describe a gathering of musicians to perform or jam together. [E.g., "There's no opportunity either to take rhythm & blues or leave it alone at this "sesh" at the Apollo." 2002, Bruce Pegg, "Brown Eyed Handsome Man: The Life and Hard Times of Chuck Berry", Routledge, ISBN 0415937485, page 51.] Today, "sesh" is often used in the US in conjunction with sports activities performed in or before a small group, particularly extreme sports; for example, "skate sesh", "surf sesh" and "snowboard sesh". A search of Google and of YouTube videos for the word "sesh" further evidences the word having entered the vernacular.A Google search on January 26, 2008, for the word "sesh" returned over 1 million results. A Google search for phrases including "sesh" revealed the following, testifying to the broad use of the term: "street sesh" (120,000 results); "jam sesh" (23,800); "recording sesh" (1,820); "skate sesh" (17,900); "rail sesh" (8,580); "skateboard sesh" (1,610); "ramp sesh" (3,510); "surf sesh" (2,810); "board sesh" (991); "snowboard sesh" (644); "ski sesh" (269); "training sesh" (4,550); "shopping sesh" (248); "dance sesh" (1,720); "makeout sesh" (2,020); "park sesh" (6,380); "backyard sesh" (1,180);"chill sesh" (4,550); "Sunday sesh" (9,370); "night sesh" (6,360); "evening sesh" (1,610); "afternoon sesh" (1,620); "morning sesh" (2,490). A January 26, 2008, search for the term "sesh" on YouTube resulted in over 9,700 videos; most were were related to sports or music.]

Usage

The word "sesh" is often coupled with a prefacing descriptive term, which can be either a noun or a verb, to describe the particular type of group activity or get-together.placeholder] For example, "jam sesh" is often used to refer to musicians gathering together and playing without extensive preparation or prearrangements. "Skate sesh", "rail sesh", "ramp sesh" and "street sesh" are phrases used by the youth skateboarding subculture to describe skateboarding activities, typically performed with or before a small group of friends. More generally, "morning sesh", "afternoon sesh", and "Sunday sesh" are used to describe get-togethers or activities at certain times. The word "sesh" is also used alone to refer to a particular type of activity in the context that is understood by a group's members. [E.g., snowboarding: "Then it was on to the wallride for a sesh where numerous tricks were thrown down." April 11, 2007, Dave Driscoll, [http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/snow/features/article/0,26719,1608945,00.html "Transworld Snowboarding Magazine".] ]

ee also

*Session
*Seisiun
*Irish traditional music session
*Kingston upon Hull
*Pub session
*Jam session

References