flotsam and jetsam
Floating shipwreck remains
Flotsam and jetsam are debris found floating in water.
Technically, flotsam is wreckage from a shipwreck that floats naturally, while jetsam is cargo deliberately thrown overboard to lighten a vessel in distress.
The phrase usually appears as a unit meaning scattered remains or odds and ends: flotsam and jetsam from the estate sale.
It can describe marginalized people drifting through society: the flotsam and jetsam of urban life.
Scattered broken fragments
- driftwoodSea-delivered shore lumber
- wreckageDestroyed remains of something
- salvageRecovering damaged goods
- shipwreckDestroyed vessel at sea
cargo · hull · mast · rigging · planks · barnacles · seaweed · buoyant
Miscellaneous small items
- bric-a-bracMiscellaneous small ornaments
- knickknacksSmall ornamental objects
- trinketsMinor decorative objects
- tchotchkesSmall decorative objects
curios · sundries · miscellanea · paraphernalia · ephemera · baubles · doodads · gewgaws
debris
Scattered broken fragments
- driftwoodSea-delivered shore lumber
- wreckageDestroyed remains of something
- salvageRecovering damaged goods
shipwreck · cargo · hull · mast · rigging · planks · barnacles · seaweed · buoyant · adrift
odds and ends
Miscellaneous small items
- bric-a-bracMiscellaneous small ornaments
- knickknacksSmall ornamental objects
- trinketsMinor decorative objects
tchotchkes · curios · sundries · miscellanea · paraphernalia · ephemera · baubles · doodads · gewgaws · novelties
junk
Worthless discarded items
castoffs · rejects · leftovers · remnants · scraps · refuse · litter · detritus · dregs · dross
- Nautical Idiomsbatten down the hatches, all hands on deck, smooth sailing, three sheets to the wind, in the same boat
- pairspair, pairs, two, duo, duos
flotsam and jetsamtreasure
Valued wealth or keepsake
valuables · heirlooms · keepsakes · crown jewels · riches
flotsam and jetsamelite
Superior select group
establishment · landed gentry · pillars of society · upper crust · aristocracy