A hotchpotch is a mix of things thrown together with no clear plan — leftover ideas, styles, objects, people, whatever does not match. British speakers use this spelling; Americans usually write hodgepodge, and it is the same word. It started as a stew: you shake different foods in one pot, and you get a jumble. People still use it that way in cooking talk, but most of the time it is not about food. A room, a law, a school timetable, a playlist can all be a hotchpotch. It is a little old-fashioned and a little bookish, but not stiff; newspapers still like it. It is almost never a compliment. You would not call a careful recipe a hotchpotch. Though actually, some people say it with a smile, as if the mess has charm.