Heinz 57

Noun

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

1. (US, also, attributive, countable, humorous, informal) A thing comprising parts from many different sources; a complete mix; a hodgepodge, a mishmash.
   • The next thing to ascertain is how much of the motorcycle you want is there and what condition it is in. Harley-Davidsons have a high degree of parts interchangeability. […] 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...1994, Bruce Palmer, “Where to Begin”, in How to Restore Your Harley-Davidson (Motorbook International Authentic Restoration Guides), Osceola, Wis.: Motorbooks International, →ISBN, page 13, column 2
   • 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—or might be too busy learning JSP, ASP, or .NET to even think about changing their fundamental front-end techniques.2003 May, Jeffery Zeldman, “The Trouble with Standards”, in Designing with Web Standards, Berkeley, Calif.: New Riders Publishing, →ISBN, page 78

   Synonyms:

   bouillabaisse, bric-a-brac, catch-all, clamjamfrey, cocktail, rummage, salad, anthology, gallery, gatherum

   1. (US, also, attributive, humorous, informal) An animal (chiefly a dog) of mixed breed or uncertain origin; a mongrel, a mutt.
      • There just wasn’t any place on the farm for four more Heinz 57 dogs running around. It made Sammi sad, but she had her hands full with her rabbits.1989, Richard Rhodes, “Planting”, in Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer, New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 282
      • Walking into the SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] grounds, I was greeted with a cacophony of barking, from high-pitched yelps to low woofs. There were all varieties, mostly Heinz 57s, from big shaggy collies to little sausages in all shapes and colours.2003, Michael Zrymiak, “Our Guard Dogs”, in And No Mosquitoes, [S.l.]: Michael Zrymiak, →ISBN, page 15
   2. (US, also, attributive, derogatory, humorous, informal) A person of mixed ethnic or racial ancestry.
      • If I had an ethnic base to identify from, if I was even Irish American, that would have been something formed, if I was a working-class woman, that would have been something formed. But to be a Heinz 57 American, a white, class-confused American, land of the Kleenex type American, is so formless in...1993, Ruth Frankenberg, quoting Cathy Thomas, “Questions of Culture and Belonging”, in White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness, Minneapolis, Minn.: University of Minnesota...
      • My father was first-generation American. 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.1995, Erika Bourguignon, quoting A (a graduate student in music), “Identity and the Constant Self”, in L. Bryce Boyer, Ruth M. Boyer, Howard F. Stein, editors, The Psychoanalytic Study of Society...
2. (US, also, attributive, humorous, informal, uncountable) A variety of draw poker in which the five and seven playing cards are wild cards.