A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
potpourri
PRONUNCIATION: (poh-poo-REE, POH-poo-ree)
MEANING: noun
1. A mixture of dried flower petals, spices, herbs, etc., kept for fragrance.
2. A musical medley.
3. A mixture of incongruous things.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French pot pourri, literally rotten pot (loan translation of Spanish olla podrida), from pot (pot) + pourri (rotten), from pourrir (to rot). English has borrowed not only the loan translated term potpourri from French, but also the original Spanish olla podrida. It has borrowed from other languages a whole bunch of terms to describe hodgepodge or miscellany, such as, from Swedish smorgasbord, from French salmagundi, and from Hungarian goulash. Earliest documented use: 1611.
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P > R
ROTPOURRI - really rotten potpourri