Some speakers believe that it is an eggcorn of the North American indigenous communal meal known as a potlatch (meaning 'to give away'). The modern execution of a 'communal meal, where guests bring their own food', most likely originated in the 1930s during the Great Depression.
The word pot-lucke appears in the 16th-century English work of Thomas Nashe, and used to mean 'food provided for an unexpected or uninvited guest, the luck of the pot'. Other names for a 'potluck' include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner, covered-dish-supper, fuddle, Jacob's Join, bring a plate, and fellowship meal. An assorted spread of different dishes at a potluck in Alberta, CanadaĪ potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared. For other uses, see Pot luck (disambiguation).
