What is the origin of the word "washel"?

My wife's family uses the word "washel"or "washle". They are from eastern Ohio, in and about Mineral Ridge, Ohio.

They use it in place of crumple, as in "washel a piece of paper". Not sure of spelling, sounds like mash.

Anyone know the origin?

Solution 1:

I'm not sure on the origin of the word, but I can contribute that it doesn't seem to be dialectal or unique to your family.

Google's Ngram Viewer shows that it's been around at least since 1800, and was actually in greater use then.

The University of Michigan seems to treat it as a noun.

Page 393 of Robert E Lewis' Middle English Dictionary seems to indicate washel is only a noun, equivalent to vessel and originating from weshel.

Under the heading Old Edinburgh, David Maxwell's Bygone Scotland seems to support the use of weshel in this sense - "within covered weshel". Page 83 of Seafield Correspondence 1685-1708 also seems to use the word this way - 'especially the weshell that is not come up as yet' ("espeallie the weshell that is not come vp as yet").

These sources seem to indicate that although washel is not unique to your family, the meaning your family uses it with is unique. As such, the origin could only be guessed at - perhaps a spelling mistake, or someone mishearing someone else. I would ask the family if they knew its origin.