mish-mash, n.
(ˈmɪʃmæʃ)
Also 5 mysse-masche, 7 mish-mass, 9 misch-masch; mish-mosh, mish-mush.
[A reduplication of mash n.1 Cf. G. mischmasch, Da. (? from LG.) miskmask.]
A confused mixture; a medley, hodgepodge, jumble.
| c 1450 Mankind 49 in Macro Plays 3 But, ser, I prey yow þis questyon to claryfye: Dryff-draff, mysse-masche. 1585 Higins Junius' Nomenclator 362 A confused or disordered heape of all things together: a mishmash. 1600 Holland Livy xxvi. xl. 615 A very mish mash [orig. conluvio] and sinke of vile and wretched persons. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1638) 27 A mish-mash of Arabick and Portuguise. 1676 Doctrine of Devils 146 That Gallimawphey Mish-mass, of most Monstruous..Conceits and Practises. 1806 W. Taylor in Robberds Mem. (1843) II. 257 The Mishmash of Manuscript, printed extract [etc.]. c 1855 ‘L. Carroll’ (title) Mischmasch. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph., Haggai i. 2 The Samaritans..(amid their mishmash of worship, worshipping, as our Lord tells them, they know not what). 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxii, A ridiculous mish-mash of superannuated customs and false ambition. 1957 Time 2 Sept. 34/2 Paul Gregory's Crescendo, a mish-mash of American music, with Ethel Merman, Rex Harrison, Louis Armstrong, &c. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 335 You call this a report?.. It is nothing but a mish-mosh. 1962 John o' London's 18 Jan. 68/2 How did the cast make out amid the mish-mush? 1964 G. Marx Let. 24 Feb. (1967) 305, I suggest you learn how to pronounce ‘mishmash’. It is not pronounced ‘mash’,..but rather as though it were spelled mosh. 1965 P. Ziegfeld Ziegfelds' Girl i. 7 How the elegant and impeccably British Mr. Maugham had come to write this mishmash nobody could figure out. 1975 Listener 30 Oct. 589/2 The original Panorama had consisted of a mish-mash of disconnected and frequently frivolous items. |
| attrib. 1652 News fr. Low-Countr. 1 When, first, the first confused Masse Did, from its mish mash medly, passe. a 1922 T. S. Eliot Waste Land Drafts (1971) 27 From such chaotic misch-masch potpourri What are we to expect but poetry? |
Hence
ˈmishmash v., to make a ‘mish-mash’ or confused mass of; to throw into confusion.
| 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. lx. (1737) 247 Then is sacrific'd to him Haberdines, Poor-Jack, minglemangled, mishmash'd. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 199 Steghin gluttons..Mish-mashin' creatures for their greed or gust. 1866 Gregor Banffsh. Gloss., Meesh-mash, to mingle; to throw into a confused mass. |