What's the Difference Between Ish and Ishy?

To everyone else, ish means "sort of". But, to a Minnesotan, ishy is a lifestyle. It means you like to get clean after getting dirty. It means you like to work hard a play hard, then have a nice cup of hot chocolate, or make a smore by the campfire. It means shoveling snow and hooking a worm. Ishy makes clean possible. Without the ish you can't be great. 

You'll know ishy when you see it. You will feel the ishy when you fall in a soft bedded lake and try to stand up. You will smell ishy when the wind is from the wrong direction. 

Life is ishy, and we are here to clean you up! Get the ish off with our soaps and swag!

The origination of the word "Ishy" and its meaning are hotly debated. One reddit thread had a Minnesota user asking about the use of the word "ishy" during a scrabble game, where their wife (NOT from Minnesota) had never heard it before, but everyone else knew exactly what it meant.

It's worth triple points to us.

One commenter reminisced using the word growing up and said, "I read somewhere that "Ish!" is a Minnesotan interjection of disgust influenced by the many Scandinavian immigrants who settled in the state." Then went on reciting a poem they remembered from their high school literary magazine, (lol) "I can still remember (if imperfectly) a poem by Jaimie G.:

'Guts
Folded and long
So slender and squishy
A symbol of courage
To some people ishy'"

Beautiful.

The next commentor was all but certain of the word "Ishy" has a Native American connection.

"There is an Ojibwe (or Anishinabe) connection. Lake Winnebigoshish, for example literally means Big Dirty Water (and is related in form to Winnipeg and Winnebago). Shay-now-ish-kung is the name of Chief Bemidji (long story, but he wasn’t a chief…) and there and many other Ojibwe words that use “ish” that may affect the upper Midwest. Growing up near a few reservations, “ish” was much more common parlance than in regular society. I’m not a linguist, but there seems to be a strong connection."

They had some support from someone saying "Can confirm. From Bemidji. Dad’s side of the family is native. Grew up hearing variants of “ick/ish you’re a sav!”

Just when you thought it was settled, user SkinTeeth4800 swooped in with a cold bucket of water saying, " Interesting idea - but I'm not sure "ish" is the element that means "dirty"" and linked to University of Minnesota Ojibwe Dictionary Online.

Even one person said, "I’ve traveled a lot and taught myself not to say it anymore because it was confusing to others." 

They didn't want to make other people confused. How (Minnesota) nice.