noun🎓 English idiom

hodge-podge

a confused mixture of different things

What it means

A hodge-podge is a jumbled assortment of unrelated or mismatched items, ideas, or people thrown together without much order. The word carries a slightly negative or humorous tone, suggesting the mixture lacks coherence.

Examples

  • Her apartment is a hodge-podge of vintage finds and IKEA furniture.
  • The new policy is a hodge-podge of ideas from three departments.
  • Dinner was a hodge-podge of whatever was left in the fridge.
  • The album is a hodge-podge of styles that never quite gels.

Where it comes from

An alteration of 'hotchpotch' (15th century), originally a stew of mixed ingredients. The reduplicative form became standard in American English.

Related idioms

#mish-mash#higgledy-piggledy#topsy-turvy#mumbo-jumbo

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