A thick stew or porridge made from oats, barley, or other grains, traditionally eaten by sailors and poor people.
Possibly from Turkish 'borgu' or Arabic origins related to grain-based foods. The word entered English maritime vocabulary in the 18th century as British sailors adopted it from Mediterranean cooking.
This humble sailor's meal was so important that it became slang for 'hardship' and 'monotony'—think of shipboard life where the same burgoo appeared day after day!
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