Meghan Daum wrote a column today, published in the Tribune, that talked about how Americans like people in the media (politicians, actors, etc.) who are a little "naughty," such as Lindsay Lohan or Newt Gingrich. In making her point, she mentioned the apparently popular phrase, hot mess. It refers to people whose behavior is "exceedingly self-destructive but who remain exceedingly compelling nonetheless." Charlie Sheen is apparently a good example, though I don't find him too compelling.

Have you heard the phrase used? If so, how? According to Daum, Americans want a little "naughtiness." Looking at the Republican candidates, maybe so.

The term evinced thoughts of a military cafeteria first, then someone's fresh vomit.

I do find the aforementioned people compelling: I'm compelled to ignore them.

I suppose it could turn out to be somebody's word of the year. After all, words of the year don't have to be one word anymore, as we've found.

Never heard of it. As Geoff mentions, it brings food to my mind at first, in my case school lunches. Although come to think of it, not much was served hot, mostly it was lukewarm or tepid. The other sense, "spicy", never applied, since all food was bland. However, I can imagine it being used at school to distinguish "hot mess" and "cold mess", the latter being perhaps a salad.

My 20y.o. assures me that by far the most common usage (Urban Dic notwithstanding) is in the sense of 'steaming dogpile'-- a disastrous situation/person requiring immediate cleanup (or run away if you can)

Mess in my dialect means a sort of (military) cafeteria. It is fro Latin mensa 'table' via French. I have eaten at mensae in Germany and Austria, where they are subsidized restaurants for civil servants, police, and students.

A hot table might be a steam table where food is kept warm way past its prime so that people can eat more quickly than where preperation and cooking are involved.