Monday, February 15, 2010

Word of the moment

The word of the moment is salmagundi
Pronunciation: sal-mə-ˈgən-dē
noun
1. a salad plate of chopped meats, anchovies, eggs, and vegetables arranged in rows for contrast and dressed with a salad dressing
2. a heterogeneous mixture. potpourri 
Sounds vaguely Anglo-Indian , doesn't it?  But it's not; it is French in origin (salmigondis).  Speaking of Anglo-Indian, that reminds me of one of my favorite dictionary titles:

Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and discursive, by Sir Henry Yule.  It was published in 1903 (and is quite politically incorrect).  As it is out of copyright, there are free versions, both full-text and as a searchable database.

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