Hodgepodge literally means "shake-pot" — it was a medieval stew of whatever was on hand before it became a word for any jumbled mixture.
A confused mixture or jumble of things; a heterogeneous medley.
An alteration of hotchpotch, itself from Anglo-Norman hochepot, from Old French hocher (to shake) + pot (pot). Originally a legal term for the mixing of properties to ensure equal division among heirs, and a culinary term for a thick stew of mixed ingredients. Key roots: hocher (Old French (from Frankish *hottisōn): "to shake, to toss").
Hodgepodge was originally a real dish — a thick medieval stew of whatever ingredients were available, all shaken together in a pot. The word literally means "shake-pot" in Old French. It also had a serious legal meaning: in inheritance law, hotchpotch referred to the mandatory pooling of all