As to the word itself....
As with so much Language, each word has an Etymology, including Gish, and whether people like it or not the etymology of gish has changed over the years.
The origin of the word comes from the original White Dwarf #12 article (1979) on the Githyanki referring to "a Githyanki fighter/wizard combination". It then evolved in OD&D to be synonymous with the elf class. it has since evolved into a noun used in various RPG settings to mean
"A magician, or character that is skilled in both physical combat and the use of magic. Most gish characters use their magical abilities to increase their own personal combat abilities (known as "buffing")."
Better yet? Its also wormed its way into common urban language. See the
Urban Dictionary. Some of these I can't repeat here (#3).
* to do something halfway; to not see something through to the end
* Smashing Pumpkins album
* to apply force to cause expulsion of matter
* variation of "gosh"
Now to the OP... Yes, there needs to be a real attempt at addressing the Warrior-Mage archetype as well as a Rogue-Mage archetype. As noted by Mattachine there are a number of characters that can be used as role models for this but I do think there need to be some more truly D&D style fantasy warrior-mages as well such as dwarven rune-casters. However, I also feel that any combination of martial fighting style character that wields a power (magic, psionic, etc.) can be classified under this heading.
