Isht and Ish

[Grant Barrett]

For what it's worth, Alonzo Westbrook's "Hip Hoptionary: The Dictionary
of Hip Hop Terminology" (2002) separates "ish" and "isht", p. 76:

ish: chitchat. "We sat around shooting the _ish._"
isht: expletive, like shit.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org