farrago

farragO

noun

[fuh-RAH-goh] or  [fuh-RAY-goh ] 

MEANINGS

§ farrago: a confused mixture; a hodgepodge  plural farragoes. —NOAD

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§ Farrago [fuh-RAY-goh]. A farrago of nonsense. A confused heap of nonsense.  —Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Centenary Edition, Revised by Ivor H. Evans. New York: Harper and Row, 1981, 414.

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§ farrago is a medley, mixture or conglomeration.

nnIt originally referred to mixed fodder for feeding cattle and comes directly from the Latin.  It is pronounced fuh-RAY-goh or fuh-RAH-goh.  Though it is usually seen in the phrase "farrago of nonsense," Virginia Wolf once rang a change on this phrase, speaking of a "farrago of absurdity."—From William and Mary Morris. Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins. New York: Harper and Row, 1977, 215. 

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§ farrago — one of many words used to describe a mixture of diverse objects.  From the Latin word for mixed fodder for cattle.

nnOther words for for this kind of mismash are…hodgepodge, gallimaufry, olio, potpourri, goulash, salmagundi, pastiche, omnium gatherum (itself a mixture). and even ministrone. "They persist in compounding the original error, if that is what it was, with a farrago of falsehoods."—Maxwell Nurnberg.  I Always Look Up the Word "E•gre•gious.  News York: Barnes and Noble, 1981, 79.

IN USE

The film ["All About Steve"] is such a misjudged farrago that it makes Miss Congeniality [Sandra Bullock] seem like a masterpiece.—Derek Malcom. "No hilarity in All About Steve," Evening Standard, 15.01.10.

It is not possible to know why this absurdly rich and amazingly famous (for two lifeless dullards) pair [Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie] have decided to give up. Could it be that any relationship predicated on obvious sexual misconduct and a farrago of lies can never come to any good? —Lynn Crosbie. "Nothing could be better than an end of this affair," theglobeandmail.com, Jan 26, 2010.

But in Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition, we get a definition [for miscreant] of “utterly reprehensible in nature or behavior” and a fearsome farrago of synonyms as adjectives: “corrupt, degenerate, depraved, flagitious, perverse, rotten, unhealthy, villainous.—William Safire. On Language, "Dictionarus," New York Times Magazine, June 10, 2009.

"Beautiful Farrago" by Erika 

Drawing done in colored pencil on drawing paper.

Artist's Comment: 

I tried to illustrate my mind: what it sees, the way it feels, or when thoughts and ideas come to me. I tend to live in my head most of the time.  The drawing begins at the bottom left hand corner (which is my head) and then everything pops out and spreads out.  If your wondering, “farrago” means: a confused mixture; jumble; hodgepodge. ~ Erika  (redbubble.com)

COMMENTS:

AN OMNIUM GATHERUM OF 

SYNONYMS FOR FARRAGO, 

IN TWO PARTS

PART ONE: Distinctions Among  Basic Synonyms for Farrago, From The New Oxford American Dictionary (2006) 

NOAD defines farrago as  "a confused mixture," exemplifies it with "a farrago of fact and myth about Abraham Lincoln," and then invites us to "See note at jumble."  At the entry for jumble we find an entry called "THE RIGHT WORD," which draws distinctions among the following terms: confusion, jumble, hodgepodge, conglomeration, melange, farrago, and disarray.  As you will see in this arrangement, a farrago is less confused than a conglomeration or a disarray but more confused than a muddle.

Confusion is a very broad term, applying to any indiscriminate mixing or mingling that makes it difficult to distinguish individual elements or parts (: a confusion of languages).

The typical teenager's bedroom is usually a jumble of books, papers, clothing, CDs, and soda cans—the word suggests physical disorder and a mixture of dissimilar things.

If the disorder exists on a figurative level, it is usually called a hodgepodge (: a hodgepodge of ideas, opinions, and quotations, with a few facts thrown in for good measure).

Conglomeration refers to a collection of dissimilar things, but with a suggestion that the collection is random or inappropriate (: a conglomeration of decorating styles).

A mélange can be a mixture of foods (: add peppers or zucchini to the mélange), but it can also be used in a derogatory way ( an error-filled mélange of pseudoscience, religion, and fanciful ideas).

A farrago is an irrational or confused mixture of elements and is usually worse than a conglomeration (: a farrago of doubts, fears, hopes, and desires), while a muddle is less serious and suggests confused thinking and lack of organization (: their bank records were in a complete muddle).

Disarray implies disarrangement and is most appropriately used when order or discipline has been lost ( his unexpected appearance threw the meeting into disarray).

PART TWO: "A Synonymicon (collection of synonyms) of Farrago Equivalents"  

If NOAD's list of synonyms for farrago proved helpful but seemed a bit "tame," consider this list of 25 more rumbustious synonyms, each word denoting a distinct variety of disorder, selected from a farrago (of course) of sources — primary among them  Sisson's Word and Expression Locater (1966) — with each term defined by its corresponding entry in the OED.   —A.F. Sisson. Sisson's Word and expression Locator. West Nyack, N.Y.: Parker Publishing, 1966, 201, 205.

 Words Worth's Synonymicon of Farrago Equivalents

adversaria   [ad-ver-SAIR-i-a] (Latin) A commonplace-book, a place in which to note things as they occur; collections of miscellaneous remarks or observations, = miscellanea; also commentaries or notes on a text

assemblage   [a-SEM-blij] (French) A bringing or coming together; a meeting or gathering; the state of being gathered or collected. A number of things gathered together; a collection, group, cluster.

Babelism   [BAY-bel-ism or BA-bel-ism] (Hebrew) Noisy confusion of speech; strange utterance.

brouhaha [BROO-ha-HA] (French) A  commotion, a to-do, a ‘sensation’; hubbub, uproar.

charivari [CHIV-a-REE] A confused, discordant medley of sounds; a babel of noise.

congeries [kon-JIR-eez] (Latin) A collection of things merely massed or heaped together; a mass, heap.

collectanea: [KOL-ek-TAY-nee-uh] Passages, remarks, etc., collected from various sources

concourse  The running or flocking together of people; the condition or state of being so gathered together.

concursion   [kon-KUR-shun]  Running or rushing together; concourse.

conversazione   [KON-ver-SAHT-se-O-nay] Now chiefly used for a soirée given by a learned body or society of arts, at which the society's work is illustrated by the exhibition of specimens, experiments, and demonstrations.

disjecta membra   [dis-JEC-ta MEM-bra] ‘limbs of a dismembered poet’, used = Scattered remains.

exotica [eg-ZOT-i-ka] Exotic objects or items.

fantasia Music. ‘A composition in a style in which form is subservient to fancy’ (Stainer and Barrett).

gallimaufry   [GAL-i-MAW-free]

 A dish made by hashing up odds and ends of food.

heterogeneity   [HET-i-ro-ji-NEE-i-tee]

The quality or condition of being heterogeneous:  a. Difference or diversity in kind from other things;  b.Composition from diverse elements or parts; multifarious composition.

macedoine   [MAS-i-DWAN]

 (French) 1. A medley or mixture of unrelated things. 2. Mixed fruit or vegetables cut up into small pieces.

miscellanea   [MIS-I-LAY-ne-uh]

(Latin, Italian) As a mass noun: miscellaneous items, esp. literary compositions, that have been collected together, regarded collectively.

motley

(origin unknown) An incongruous, multifarious, or confused mixture or assembly. Freq. with of.

miscellaneity   [MIS-el-ah-NEE-i-de]

Miscellaneousness; an instance of this.

olla podrida   [OL-uh pi-DREE-da]

(Spanish) A highly spiced stew of Spanish and Portuguese origin, made from various kinds of meat and vegetables.

omnium gatherum    [OM-nee-um GATH-er-um]

(Latin) Chiefly colloq. A gathering or collection of all sorts of people or things; a catch-all, an inclusive group or category.

pastiche   [pa-STESH]

(French) 1. a. A novel, poem, painting, etc., incorporating several different styles, or made up of parts drawn from a variety of sources. 

b. A musical composition incorporating different styles; a medley. 

2. a. A work, esp. of literature, created in the style of someone or something else; a work that humorously exaggerates or parodies a particular style. 

b. The technique of incorporating distinctive elements of other works or styles in a literary composition, design, etc. 

See pastiche also right here on Words Worth.

pasticcio   [pa-STE-cho, -che-o]

(Italian) Music. An opera or other work consisting of a medley of pieces from different compositions or by different composers.

potpourri   [PO-poo-REE]

(French): A mixture of dried petals of different flowers mixed with spices, kept in a jar or bowl to perfume a room. Also fig.

salmagundi    [SAL-muh-GUN-dee]

(Italian) 1. Cookery. A dish composed of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, onions with oil and condiments. 2. transferable and figurative.

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