TAKE POTLUCK

THIS IDIOM means to go for anything that is available or is found by chance, rather than something chosen, planned, or prepared. In the US it means an informal meal where guests bring a different dish that is then shared with the other guests.

For example: You’re welcome to join us for supper but you’ll have to take potluck.

This idiom originated in the 16th century in the UK. The original

‘take one’s chance at what is being served’ meaning is still the one that is more commonly used outside the US.

The word first appeared in the work of Thomas Nashe in 1592. “That, that pure sanguine complexion of yours may neuer be famisht with potte-lucke.” Nashe included the term in his stage drama “Summer’s Last Will and Testament,” according to Robert Palmatier in “Food: A Dictionary of Literal and Nonliteral Terms.”

The American ‘bring food to a party’ meaning can be found in an entry in American Speech in 1924: “Pot luck, food contributed by the guest. To take pot luck is to bring food with one to a party.”

Potluck dinners are events where the attendees bring a dish to a meal. The only traditional rule is that each dish be large enough to be shared among a good portion of the anticipated guests.

The use of the hyphen in the early citation of potte-lucke indicates that the expression may well have been in use earlier than the 16th century.