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大杂烩 (dà zá huì) — hodgepodge, mixed assortment; (literal) mixed stew

Definition

Literally a 'big mixed stew' (杂烩 = hodgepodge of ingredients), now used figuratively for any jumbled mix of unrelated things — articles, exhibitions, policies. A vivid, colloquial image for 'a bit of everything thrown together.'

noun
hodgepodgemixed assortment(literal) mixed stew

Examples

  • ，大杂烩。
    Zhè ge zhǎn lǎn shén me dōu yǒu, zhēn shì dà zá huì.
    This exhibition has everything — it's a real hodgepodge.
  • 大杂烩。
    Zhè dào cài jiù shì gè zhǒng shū cài de dà zá huì.
    This dish is just a mixed stew of various vegetables.
  • ，大杂烩。
    Tā de wén zhāng nèi róng tài zá, xiàng gè dà zá huì yí yàng.
    His article's content is too mixed, like a hodgepodge.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

大dàbig
杂烩mixed stew
杂zámixed烩huìstew
偏正Modifier + head

大 “big”, 杂 “mixed”, and 烩 “stew” make a large mixed stew, hence a hodgepodge.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雜; 杂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
集
集jí雜zá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雜 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 集 as a sound part, originally referring to mixed colours, perhaps in dyed clothes; the simplified 杂 is a later shorthand.

Open 杂 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 烩 →
Appears in
Food (General)

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