Heinz 57

English

Etymology

From the “57 Varieties [of Pickles]” slogan used by the H. J. Heinz Company.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhaɪnz ˌfɪf.ti ˌsɛv.ən/

Adjective

Heinz 57 (not comparable) (US)

1. (of a thing) Being a complete mix; containing parts of many different origins.

   Synonyms: hodgepodge; see also Thesaurus:hodgepodge

   • 1994, Bruce Palmer, How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson‎^[1], →ISBN, page 13:

     Is the stock 1939 Harley-Davidson you are looking at 100% 1939 or is it 50% 1939 and 50% Heinz 57, or does it only have a motor with 1939 crankcases sitting in a 1972 chassis?

   • 2003, Jeffery Zeldman, Designing with Web Standards‎^[2], →ISBN, page 78:

     Then, too, designers and developers who’ve taken the time to learn the Heinz 57 varieties of proprietary scripting and authoring might see little reason to learn anything new…

   • 2006, Richard S. Kitchen, Mathematics Education at Highly Effective Schools that Serve the Poor‎^[3], →ISBN, page 84:

     [quoting a teacher at a middle school] So the 7th grade math one [curriculum], is like Heinz 57, it's from everywhere and anywhere

2. (informal, of a person or animal, chiefly a dog) Having ancestry of many different origins; to be of mixed race or breed.

   Synonyms: mixed race, mongrel, mutt

   Antonyms: purebred, pedigree

   • 1995, Erika Bourguignon, “Identity and the Constant Self”, in The Psychoanalytic Study of Society‎^[4], volume 19, page 183:

     “ […] My mother is a bit more on the Heinz 57 side. She's got a strong Germanic background, a little bit of British, and my maternal grandmother is French-Canadian.”

   • 1997, Richard Rhodes, Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer‎^[5], →ISBN, page 282:

     There just wasn’t any place on the farm for four more Heinz 57 dogs running around.

   • 1997, Richard Dyer, White‎^[6], →ISBN, page 9:

     As one woman (Cathy Thomas) vividly and wittily put it, ‘To be a Heinz 57 American, a white, class-confused American, land of the Kleenex type American, is so formless in and of itself’

Noun

Heinz 57 (countable and uncountable, plural Heinz 57s)

1. (countable, slang) A dog of miscellaneous ancestry; a mutt.

   Synonym: pavement special

   • Even Birds Are Chained To The Sky and Other Tales (The Fine Line Editorial Consultancy) (page 265)

     “We have five dogs,” I hear her say, “All Heinz 57s, rescued.”

2. (uncountable, poker) A variety of draw poker in which 5s and 7s are wild cards.

Further reading

• Heinz 57 on Wikipedia.Wikipedia