Why “salmagundi”?

I was looking for a synonym for “jumble.” At first I was going to call my blog “A Glorious Jumble,” but when I Googled the phrase, I discovered it had been used so much in general writing alone that it was a cliche. So when I consulted the thesaurus, I saw enticing choices such as “hodge-podge” and “salmagundi.”

Salmagundi appealed to me for several reasons. One, it seems exotic compared to words like “jumble” and “hodge-podge.” Second, it sounds like a mess o’ stuff, which was what I wanted to convey. Third, our first family dog was nicknamed Salmagundi (her name was Sally), so that word was ringing in my ears practically from infancy, even though I had no idea what it meant. A word that describes your life and evokes memories of the first dog you ever knew is truly a magical word.

What exactly does “salmagundi” mean? WordWeb Online defines it as “1. A collection containing a variety of sorts of things…2. Cooked meats and eggs and vegetables usually arranged in rows around the plate and dressed with a salad dressing.” (According to Wikipedia, it was also a satirical work by Washington Irving.) Synonyms include assortment, mixture, mixed bag, miscellany, miscellanea, variety, smorgasbord, potpourri, and motley. 

I have to admit “motley” appealed to me as well because of a variety of connotations, negative as well as positive, and all appropriate. In the end, salmagundi won out because the first definition is so apt regarding the prospective content of this blog, and the second definition is actually an effective metaphor. Sometimes life is just a big messy platter of God-knows-what, and I often have too much on my plate. 

As for “express”? At first I was going to call this blog “My Own Salmagundi,” but when I tried to register the URL, that name was already taken. I thought of all those Asian restaurants that use “express” in their names, and it seemed like a good fit for my blog title as well. Quick servings of a variety of things. So, welcome to “Salmagundi Express.”