{"id":32071,"date":"2014-04-25T00:11:45","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T07:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=32071"},"modified":"2014-04-25T00:09:15","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T07:09:15","slug":"origins-kitty-corner-catawampus-cat-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/origins-kitty-corner-catawampus-cat-words\/","title":{"rendered":"The Origins of Kitty-corner, Catawampus, and other Cat Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kitty-corner\"<\/a>Today I found out<\/a> the origins of the words \u201ckitty-corner,\u201d \u201ccatawampus,\u201d and other \u201ccat\u201d words.<\/p>\n

The word \u201ckitty-corner\u201d has many different variations: catty-corner, caddy-corner, cat-a-corner, or kit-a-corner. They all mean the same thing: something that is directionally diagonal from a certain point.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, despite all of the \u201ccats\u201d and \u201ckits,\u201d the word has nothing to do with domesticated felines. Rather, it stems from the word cater-corner<\/i>. Cater is an English dialect word meaning \u201cto set or move diagonally.\u201d It is derived from the French quatre,<\/i> which means \u201cfour\u201d or \u201cfour-cornered.\u201d The word quatre<\/i> was first introduced to the English as the word for the number four on dice, and was promptly anglicized to cater.<\/i> Early versions of cater-corner were \u201ccaterways\u201d and \u201ccaterwise,\u201d which meant the same thing.<\/p>\n

The placement of the dots on a die at the four corners of the square led the way to turning cater<\/i> from a noun to the verb which meant \u201cto place something diagonally.\u201d Use of cater<\/i> as a verb can be traced to the 16th<\/sup> century. Soon, however, the word cater<\/i> lost all link to its French root, and substitutes arose. People often thought that the word actually had something to do with cats, so cat derivatives started cropping up. Catty-corner was likely the first mutilation of cater-corner, with kitty-corner showing up in the mid-1800s, along with other words with the \u201ccat\u201d sound.<\/p>\n

Whether you say kitty-corner, catty-corner, or something else largely depends on your region. In a dialect survey of 10,000 people in the United States, nearly 50% of respondents said they used the word \u201ckitty-corner.\u201d These people were mostly concentrated in the northern states. Another 30% used \u201ccatty-corner,\u201d with respondents concentrated in the south. Other respondents used cater-corner, diagonal, or something else, and were scattered throughout the states.<\/p>\n

There are areas of the United States where the word \u201ccatawampus,\u201d \u201ckattywumpus,\u201d or \u201ckittywampus\u201d mean the same thing as kitty-corner. For most people, however, the word means something along the lines of \u201caskew, crooked, or out of alignment.\u201d Another definition is \u201cfierce or destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible that catawampus shares the same root as kitty-corner\u2014cater\u2014<\/i>paired with the Scottish wampish<\/i>, which means \u201cto wriggle, twist, and swerve about.\u201d This would explain the \u201caskew\u201d and \u201cdiagonal\u201d meanings, which were first recorded in 1864 and 1873 respectively.<\/p>\n

However, it appears that the \u201cfierce\u201d definition was attached to the word first, and may have come from catamount,<\/i> which means \u201ccat of the mountain\u201d or \u201cmountain lion.\u201d The word first appeared in 1834 as the adverb \u201ccatawampusly.” A few years later, catawampus was a noun for a destructive imaginary creature. Afterwards, it became an adjective.<\/p>\n

There are many other \u201ccat\u201d words that were inspired by actual cats. For instance, the catnap. A catnap is a brief period of sleep that is also known as a \u201cpower nap.\u201d People were using this term as far back as the early 1800s. It is a reference to, well, cats napping. Any cat owner can tell you that most cats sleep for the better part of the day, or at the least will appear to be sleeping as they sit in a restive state, but they will often do it in short intervals. People saw cats doing this and then applied it to humans\u2019 short bursts of sleep during the day.<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cthe cat\u2019s pajamas\u201d is a little less straightforward. You could try putting a cat in pajamas if you wanted to be scratched to death, but mostly it isn\u2019t worth the effort. The phrase means \u201cthe best new thing,\u201d and it originated in the early 1920s. It\u2019s believed to be one of many nonsense phrases that followed a popular formula at the time: take an animal and an unlikely body part or article of clothing, mix them together, and see what you get. This time period also gave us \u201cthe bee\u2019s knees,\u201d \u201cthe clam\u2019s garters,\u201d and \u201cthe pig\u2019s wings,\u201d among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cat\u2019s pajamas\u201d was a phrase that was commonly used by flappers<\/a>\u2014themselves sometimes called \u201ccats,\u201d a derogatory term not to be confused with men of the same period being called \u201ccats,\u201d which meant \u201ccool.\u201d At the time, pajamas were a relatively new sleepwear item and still considered somewhat risqu\u00e9, which might have appealed to the flappers\u2014known for their unconventional choices of apparel\u2014which could have been the reason they chose that particular item of clothing.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s catsup, or, as you probably know it, ketchup. The ketchup spelling of the word is actually closer to the original, which was kichap<\/i> in Malay or koechiap<\/i> in Chinese, meaning \u201cbrine of fish.\u201d It was the name of a spicy sauce. When the English language took hold of it, it transformed into \u201ccatsup,\u201d which is simply the anglicized version of the word and has nothing to do with cats at all. Eventually, tomatoes were added to make it the ketchup we know today, and for the most part the ketchup spelling is now in use.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the \u201ccatwalk.\u201d Turns out, this term isn\u2019t just for fashion runways\u2014at its most basic, it\u2019s a word for any narrow platform on which people walk. The term first appeared in the late 1800s and is thought to have been a reference to narrow walkways bridging buildings under construction. Cats didn\u2019t actually walk on these early catwalks, but the bridges were named for them, referencing the fact that to walk on them without fear, you’d need the balance of a cat. Now, of course, catwalks are mostly associated with fashion shows, where the stages are kept narrow so that the audience can be closer to the model to see the clothes on display.<\/p>\n

Lastly, there\u2019s the catfish, named because of its whiskers which make it look a bit like a cat (and because cats wouldn\u2019t mind making it a meal\u2014though that\u2019s probably all fish, not just this type!)<\/p>\n

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