dodgepot n. originally, a race horse that is heavily favored but has mixed success; (hence) a quirky or eccentric person. Etymological Note: The information given in Gerald Hammond’s The Language of Horse Racing is probably correct, that dodgepot is a blend of dodgy and hotpot. Hammond says a hotpot first meant a heavily backed race horse, then later came to also mean a “star performer.” Hammond traces the term dodgepot back to as early as 1990. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
When an international team of scientists traveled to a research station in Antarctica for six months, the language they all shared was English. After six months together, their accents changed ever so slightly — a miniature version of how language...
What’s the difference between ethics and morality? Between a proverb and an adage? Eli Burnstein’s Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties and Subtle Shades of Meaning (Bookshop|Amazon) helps readers distinguish between such...