hodgepodge
See also: hodge-podge
English
Alternative forms
- hodge-podge
- hotchpotch
Etymology
From Middle English hochepoche, a variation of hochepot, from Old French hochepot, from Middle Dutch hutspot (“beef or mutton cut into small pieces and mixed and boiled together in a pot”), from hotsen, hutsen (“to shake; jog; jolt”) + pot (“pot”), equivalent to hotch + pot. Compare German Low German Hüttspott (“hodgepodge”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhɒdʒˌpɒdʒ/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈhɑdʒˌpɑdʒ/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
hodgepodge (countable and uncountable, plural hodgepodges)
- Alternative form of hotchpotch (“miscellaneous collection”)
- His latest sculpture is a hodgepodge of kitchen clutter and scrap glued together. In fact, all his recent pieces have been similar hodgepodges.
- 1653, Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler
- Man's life is but vain, for 'tis subject to pain, / And sorrow, and short as a bubble; / 'Tis a hodge-podge of business, and money, and care, / And care, and money, and trouble.
- Alternative form of hotchpotch (“mixture of ingredients, or form of mutton broth”)
Synonyms
- farrago, hotchpotch, melange, mingle-mangle, mishmash, oddments, odds and ends, omnium-gatherum, ragbag
- See also Thesaurus:hodgepodge
Translations
collection of miscellaneous things; a jumble
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Verb
hodgepodge (third-person singular simple present hodgepodges, present participle hodgepodging, simple past and past participle hodgepodged)
- (transitive, intransitive) To move or position in an erratic, disorganised manner.