polyglot = (non-linguistic) mixture

[Laurence Horn]

>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
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>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 â*” damaged souls fumbling
>for enlightenment and redemption in the damnedest of places â*” 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
>
I seem to recall coming across a reference to it in recipes or
restaurant reviews, so I googled "polyglot of ingredients" and got
exactly one hit:

the cap of the day was the soup, that polyglot of ingredients, simply
cooked and
yet totally sublime in its experience.

Larry