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Examples

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  • "It had been quite a long time since I'd seen a gilded roast peacock, and I hadn't really expected to see another. Certainly not in Philadelphia. Not that I should have been surprised, I thought, leaning closer to look—yes, it did have eyes made of diamonds. Not after the regatta on the Delaware, the three bands of musicians carried on barges, and the seventeen-gun salute from the warships on the river. The evening had been billed as a 'mischianza.' The word means 'medley' in Italian—I was told—and in the current instance appeared to have been interpreted to as to allow the more creative souls in the British army and the Loyalist community free rein in the production of a gala celebration to honor General Howe, who had resigned as commander in chief, to be replaced by Sir Henry Clinton."

    —Diana Gabaldon, An Echo in the Bone (New York: Delacorte Press, 2009), 793

    December 22, 2009

  • It's kind of true, it's from the verb mischiare to shuffle, to mix. But mischianza is not a a word I've heard used. The easy nominal mischia is used to mean rugby scrum.

    A more common word for medley is mescolanza.

    Pro, help! Is this a real or a pseudo-Italian word?

    December 22, 2009

  • I need to find a way to use those first two sentences in everyday speech. Priceless.

    December 22, 2009