Wednesday, March 4, 2020
A Smorgasbord of Food Terms Meaning Mixture
A Smorgasbord of Food Terms Meaning Mixture A Smorgasbord of Food Terms Meaning Mixture A Smorgasbord of Food Terms Meaning Mixture By Mark Nichol A number of words referring to an assortment of food in one dish or display of dishes also allude to a mixture (often a confused one); here are those terms and their meanings and origins. A figurative alphabet soup, by analogy to the soup featuring pieces of pasta shaped like letters of the alphabet, is a series of initials, often appearing as a string of groups of letters after a personââ¬â¢s name indicating degrees or honors or as a list of acronyms and initialisms that refer to agencies or organizations. Speaking of pasta, several hundred years ago, pasticcio (from the Italian word pasta, meaning ââ¬Å"pasteâ⬠), an Italian term for a macaroni dish, was adopted into English to refer to a mixture (it was never used in the food sense), but it was later supplanted by the French translation pastiche. Meanwhile, far, the Latin word for the grain we call spelt (and the root of farina, the term for a meal used to make hot cereal) is the origin of the Latin term farrago, meaning ââ¬Å"cattle feedâ⬠but also acquired by English only in the extended sense of ââ¬Å"a mixture.â⬠Gumbo, probably ultimately derived from a word in an African language for ââ¬Å"runaway slave,â⬠refers to a type of soup or dish made of multiple ingredients, often thickened with or including okra. (The term also refers to a type of silty soil or mud, or to a mixture in general.) Jambalaya, by contrast, is a spicy rice dish with one or more types of meats and vegetables; the French Provenà §al dialect term jambalaia, from which it is derived, means ââ¬Å"mix-up.â⬠In its original sense in Swedish, smorgasbord literally means ââ¬Å"open-sandwich table,â⬠but in English it refers broadly to a self-service buffet spread. Macà ©doine (from the French word for the culturally diverse southern European region of Macedonia) is a mixture of fruits or vegetables served in a variety of ways, including a salad. Salmagundi, an alteration of the French word salmigondis, meaning ââ¬Å"hodgepodge,â⬠is a salad plate of arranged vegetables as well as meat, fish, and eggs. Salad (the word is ultimately derived from the Latin term sal, meaning ââ¬Å"saltâ⬠) can itself refer to a mixture of disparate elements. Hash, stemming from the French verb hacher, meaning ââ¬Å"chop,â⬠is a dish made of chopped meat and potatoes often served as leftovers, hence the additional sense of ââ¬Å"a restatement of something already known.â⬠(The word also appears in ââ¬Å"hash brown potatoesâ⬠- alternatively called ââ¬Å"hash brownsâ⬠- a description alluding to the chopped-up form of the potatoes.) In addition, hash refers in general to a figurative or literal mess, and as a verb it means ââ¬Å"chop,â⬠ââ¬Å"confuse,â⬠or ââ¬Å"reviewâ⬠or ââ¬Å"talk about.â⬠The expressions ââ¬Å"hash (it) outâ⬠and ââ¬Å"hash (it) overâ⬠refer to discussing something or solving a problem, and to make a hash of something is to ruin it or do a poor job. Hash is also an alternative term for the pound sign, also called the number symbol; the word refers to the lines in the symbol, which resemble chopping marks. The term has become popular thanks to its widespread use in tweets, or messages sent using the social-networking service Twitter; the symbol, due to its use as a marker in tweets, is also called a hashtag. (Hash as a short form of hashish is unrelated; the latter is an Arabic term referring to resin collected from hemp for use as a drug.) ââ¬Å"Olla podridaâ⬠and potpourri, from Spanish and French respectively, both literally mean ââ¬Å"rotten pot,â⬠though they consist of savory ingredients; the former is the name of a Spanish or Latin American stew usually featuring sausage and chickpeas, and the latter refers to a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices collected to provide a pleasant scent. Stew itself refers to an assortment of chunks of food cooked in a hot liquid, though it can also mean ââ¬Å"a hot bathâ⬠(the Middle English term stewe means ââ¬Å"a heated room for a steam bathâ⬠) as well as ââ¬Å"a state of congestion or heat or of confusion, excitement, or worry.â⬠(It is also outdated slang for brothel or, in plural form, an obsolete reference to a red-light district.) Three other words for stew derive from forms of French: hotchpotch (from the Anglo-French term meaning ââ¬Å"to shakeâ⬠combined with pot), which was altered to hodgepodge; ragout, which comes from the French verb ragoà »ter, meaning ââ¬Å"to revive the tasteâ⬠(the second syllable is related to gusto, meaning ââ¬Å"tasteâ⬠or ââ¬Å"enthusiasm,â⬠and gustatory, meaning ââ¬Å"relating to taste or tastingâ⬠); and gallimaufry, from galimafree, a Middle French term for stew. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?How to spell "in lieu of"5 Tips to Understand Hyphenated Words
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.