Word To Use Today: farrago.

If farrago were an animal then it would probably have gone extinct long ago, because the word farrago only seems able to exist in one very specialised environment.

As serried only ever appears next to the word rank, so farrago only comes coupled with lies.

It's a farrago of lies! people say - in Britain probably with reference to our EU referendum. 

What they mean by this is that it's a conglomeration of untruths! A travesty! Cobbled-together falsehoods!

But what does the word farrago mean at root? 

Well, to be honest with you, it's all a bit of a cow's dinner.


Turning kitchen waste into cattle feed, Britain 1942 Ministry of Information

Word To Use Today: farrago. This word is the Latin for mash for cattle, that is, a mixture of all sorts of dubious stuff. The word comes from the Latin fār, which means spelt (an early form of wheat).

PS On second thoughts, perhaps lies isn't such a rare environment after all. 

No wonder the word continues to thrive.