polyglot = (non-linguistic) mixture

[Jonathan Lighter]

New to me, for sure.

  JL

Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
Subject: polyglot = (non-linguistic) mixture
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AHD/MWCD/RHUD have "polyglot" in the sense of "a mixture or confusion
of languages." (It's also in OED2, sense 2b, though marked "rare".)
But what about the metaphorical extension of "polyglot" to denote a
mixture of non-linguistic elements?

>From the Dec.30/Jan. 6 issue of _Entertainment Weekly_ (p. 44):

"_Lost_ has used that license to create not only a noodle-cooking
mythology but a polyglot of unique characters — damaged souls fumbling
for enlightenment and redemption in the damnedest of places — played
by the best ensemble cast on television."

Googling on "a polyglot of" finds all sorts of possible objects:
races, ethnicities/ethnic peoples, religions/religious beliefs,
nationalities, histories, intelligence agencies, regulations,
buildings, etc., etc. Is this a new usage, or has it been flying under
the lexicographic radar?


--Ben Zimmer



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