Do you know that feeling of being so uncomfortable you squirm in your seat? In Middle English, “mawk” meant “maggot,” giving “mawkish” an awkward connotation. The original usage of the word in the mid-17th century meant “related to sickness,” but today, when something is so uncomfortable or embarrassing you think you don’t have any words for it, pull out “mawkish.” A secondary usage of “mawkish” applies to flavors — anything faintly sick-tasting can be called “mawkish.”