Hey, guys, this is my first "Post A Poll!" <img src="http://wordcraft.infopop.cc/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="Big Grin" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin::D--> Please weigh in for me. An article in our newspaper today discussed the use of certain words to indicate that something is on a diagonal corner. Evidently many of these words or phrases are only regionally used. <BR><BR>What would you call a house that is diagonal to yours?KittycornerCattycornerCatawampusCatercornerDiagonally opposite

I believe the first four are only used in American regional English. I don't think British English has a special word.

I have heard kittycorner but it may have been on TV, possibly in a US program.

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What I would call that house depends on my audience. If I'm speaking to people from Kansas or Colorado I'm likely to say "cattycorner," but to almost anyone else I'd say "diagonally opposite."

I agree with Arnie

Richard English

I would always say "kittycorner." The article agreed with Arnie's, Bob's and Richard's conclusions. The author interviewed Michael Quinion, who said, "We don't use any of these terms in Britain and most people would be totally mystified by them. We would say, boringly but precisely, 'diagonally opposite.'" Likewise, a spokesman for the University of Sydney (Australia) said that a-d would not be used in Australia.

According to the article, it all started centuries ago when someone combined the Latin quattuor (four) with corner. That evolved into kittycorner and cattycorner, though no one knows why. "Catawampus" surfaced in the 1800s, and that word I haven't heard. It evidently not only means "diagonally," but it also means ferocious or out of order.

Linguists in the U.S. say that Northerners and Westerners prefer "kittycorner," while southerners prefer "cattycorner."

My two cents: Choices 1 & 2, while not totally unfamiliar to me, both seem too "precious" for most men to use regardless of which side of the Atlantic they reside in.

I use "kitty-corner". Does that make me "precious"?

Tinman

[This message was edited by tinman on Tue Jan 13th, 2004 at 21:05.]

Oh, Tinman, you are very precious to us!

CJ, I was a little amused by your comment, especially since you purport to be sympathetic to feminists. I have heard plenty of men say "kittycorner" or "cattycorner," and, frankly, I rarely hear "diagonally opposite."

[This message was edited by Kalleh on Tue Jan 13th, 2004 at 21:36.]

Kalleh,

Have you seen the results of a dialect survey by the Harvard Computer Society? Kitty-corner was the top choice with 49.53% of the vote from 10,706 respondents. One of the choices was kitty wampus, which I don't remember hearing. I have heard catty wampus and so has the Word Detective.

Tinman

Quote "...Have you seen the results of a dialect survey by the Harvard Computer Society..."

Interesting. I wonder what the results would have been had they included the rest of the English-Speaking world.

I have certainly never heard the "kitty-anything" term in the UK.

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard English:
I have certainly never heard the "kitty-anything" term in the UK.

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Interesting, especially considering the fact that cats were invented in England.

(Just kidding, R.E.!)

Richard said, I have certainly never heard the "kitty-anything" term in the UK."

How odd -- for the word traces back to the now-obsolete Middle English word 'cater' = to move diagonally. Apparently you've carelessly lost your own word, while we have diligently preserved it in this form.

Really, sir, you Brits should take greater care to maintain the purity of your version of the language!

Quote "...Really, sir, you Brits should take greater care to maintain the purity of your version of the language!..."

Actually this is far from uncommon. Many US words come from early English, as many come from other early forms of other European languages. Let's face it, where else would they have come from apart from the languages of the native Americans who have contributed relatively few.

For this reason there are a number of US expressions that have fallen from use in England but which are still used in the USA. "Gotten" as a past tense of "to get" is an early English form which is no longer used in England (and is often frowned on as an "Americanism" by those who are unaware of its pedigree).

In fact, the now-obselete "cater" meant a four on dice -- the spots are placed at opposite corners, of course. It comes from the Latin quattuor, which simply means "four".

In fact, the now-obselete "cater" meant a four on dice -- the spots are placed at opposite corners, of course. It comes from the Latin quattuor, which simply means "four".
How interesting, arnie. Now I know why you are so far ahead in the Bluffing game!

me: the now-obsolete Middle English word 'cater' = to move diagonally.
arnie: In fact, the now-obselete "cater" meant a four on dice -- the spots are placed at opposite corners, of course. It comes from the Latin quattuor, which simply means "four".

Indeed. My understanding is that the word had both meanings.
Etymology on-line says, "catty-cornered - 1838, from now-obsolete cater "to set or move diagonally" (1577), from M.Fr. catre "four," from L. quattuor (see four).