[stylist] monday word: cattywumpus or wompus

Wed Jan 4 01:17:10 UTC 2012

maybe it is only a noun among the redneck dialect of this country.  

half of my heritage would be described as redneck.  though we now prefer agro-american.  lol
yes, catty-corner certainly seems much more precise a meaning than catawampus.  as a noun or adjective I've seen catawampus applied to all kinds of things that aren't or couldn't be catty-cornered.  
jc

At 02:49 PM 1/3/2012, you wrote:
>Hi Jim,
>I found no mention of catawampus as a noun; just as an adjective. One of the
>derivation theories mentioned that it may have come from cattycorner. In my
>mind, cattycorner is more precise and refers to a literal diagonal, but I
>didn't look it up.
>Donna
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>Behalf Of James H. "Jim" Canaday M.A. N6yr
>Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 10:15 PM
>To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [stylist] monday word: cattywumpus or wompus
>
>Donna,
>the meanings for catawampus you listed all seem to be adjectives.  
>
>some seem to me, maybe because of my particular american dialect, to be
>better suited definitions for catty-corner or catty-cornered.  
>
>I am most familiar with catawampus as a noun, as in:
>"what happened there was a big catawampus."  
>
>as meaning, major confusion, or a mess, and implying possibly distress.  
>
>happy new year all.
>jc
>
>At 08:38 PM 1/2/2012, you wrote:
>>I've heard adults use it before for messed-up days, so I just came up with
>it.  Thanks Donna.
>>
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net
>>To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org
>>Date sent: Mon, 2 Jan 2012 15:01:17 -0500
>>Subject: Re: [stylist] monday word: cattywumpus or wompus
>>
>>Vejas,
>>This is one of my hubby's favorites.  I am curious though as to where you
>are
>>getting these words? When I saw this one, the spelling and definition of it
>>being a strange day didn't ring true to me so I looked it up.  It turns out
>>you have two variants of a variant of the word "catawampus" aka
>>cattywampus." In either case, it's w-a-m-p-u-s.  The only use of the
>>hyphenated word or the spelling w-u-m, was from catty-wumpus.com.  
>>It's never
>>a good idea to assume a web domain has been spelled correctly.
>>
>>Here are the top 3 definitions listed ondictionary.com which uses the
>>Randomhouse Unabridged dictionary 2012
>>1.  askew; awry.
>>2.  positioned diagonally; cater-cornered.
>>3.  diagonally; obliquely: We took a shortcut and walked catawampus across
>>the field.
>>
>>It took me a good half hour to sift through the Google search and the
>>dictionary.com site itself, and write this little response to you.  I know
>>it's difficult, but I think you'll find it rewarding to look a little
>>further into these words.
>>Donna
>>
>>
>>
>>Definition for cattywampus:Web definitions: In disarray or disorder; askew;
>>Not directly across from nor adjacent to.
>>en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cattywampus
>>
>>Donna
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>Behalf Of vejas
>>Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 1:35 AM
>>To: stylist at nfbnet.org
>>Subject: [stylist] monday word: cattywumpus or wompus
>>
>>Hi,
>>I really would like you to be flexible with me that sometimes, if
>>I'm not sure if the day is busy, or if it's too busy for me, like
>>if I'll be out a lot, my words may come late the night before or
>>late the night after-but at least you'll have them.
>>catty-wumpus (or wompus) (pronounced like it's spelled):
>>a strange day, where maybe things have gone wrong or it's just
>>plain crazy
>>(not actually sure if it's a real word, but I've heard people use
>>it)
>>Flora Flombet thought, as she began writing in her journal, that
>>Friday had been quite a catty-wumpus day.  First, she found
>>herself having forgotten about the band auditions, and failed
>>miserably.  Then her math class was unexpectedly moved from
>>morning to afternoon.
>>Happy New Year All!
>>Vejas
>>
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