Here's the breakdown:
* "Hodge" referred to a type of boiled stew made with a mix of leftover meats, vegetables, and grains. It was a simple, economical dish often served to lower classes.
* "Podge" meant "pudding," a common term for various thick and sticky dishes.
* "Hodgepodge" literally meant "hodge pudding," signifying a jumbled mix of ingredients in a thick stew.
Over time, the term "hodgepodge" evolved to describe any random collection of unrelated things, just like the stew contained a variety of random ingredients. Today, we use "hodgepodge" to describe anything that lacks order or consistency.
So, the term "hodgepodge" originated from a 17th-century English dish, and its meaning reflects the jumbled and diverse nature of the stew itself.