Topic: I'm so excited (and I just can't hide it)

[kghost]

I do not know who used it first but motley is an adjective meaning "speck" from the Middle English mot or mote which in Middle Dutch can mean "sand".
Sand is composed of diverse and often incongruous elements--hence, the term "motley crew", a phrase maybe describing the employees of a ocean going vessel.

I found a reference from 1748 from something called "Anson's Voyage" which speaks of "with this motley crew, Pizarro set sail." Motley has meant many-colored (like a patchwork) for centuries, and it's the colorful costume of a Fool. Motley (the noun) is cloth of vibrant mismatched colors. Motley (the adjective) borrows from the sense of a fool's costume, and a motley crew suggests a mismatched, raggle-taggle bunch of less than organized troops.

Steve ("the prof")

So............what I said. Only I said it slightly less "artsy" or "sensitive". 

[cbjunkie]

I think in the case of the Court Jester's outfit the root "mot" would have transformed into "mottled" - def. being - verb:   mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained...

seems a likely candidate given tommy's penchant for the ink...speaking of tommy, did anyone see the Comedy Central roast of Our Lady of Engorged Fun Bags? I haven't seen anyone squirm like that since our national debate centered around the definition of "is"...

johnny