the.com/splotch
A stain that gave up on having edges.
means A large, irregularly shaped blot or smear — bigger and blobbier than a plain spot.
from Likely a blend coinage, probably fusing 'spot' or 'blot' with 'botch,' from around the 1600s. English loves mashing together two messy words to make an even messier one — 'splotch' sits in a family with 'splat,' 'blotch,' and 'splodge,' all born from that same squelchy, consonant-heavy instinct to make a word sound like the mess it describes.
- vs blotch
- splotch implies bigger, messier, less sorry about it
- origin
- blend of splash and blot, 1880s
- shape rule
- irregular by definition, symmetry voids the word
- usage
- ink, paint, ketchup — never anything tidy