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Why do they call it kitty-corner?
The term ‘kitty-corner’ has nothing to do with cats. Instead, it stems from the expression ‘cater-corner,’ which is derived from “quatre,” the French word for “four.” The term was used to describe the way the dots are placed on a dice positioned at number four, diagonally from one another.
Where did the expression kiddie corner come from?
This expression, meaning “diagonally opposite,” was formed from a misspelling in English of the French word quatre (“four”) prefixed to “corner.” Although the word has nothing to do with cats or kittens, in various dialects all three spellings are acceptable: “catty,” “cater” or “kitty.”
What is the difference between catty-corner and Kitty-Corner?
What does catty-corner mean? Catty-corner is a variant of the same phrase. It means the same thing and can be used in all of the same contexts. You could also replace kitty-corner with catty-corner in the previous section’s examples without changing their meanings.
Is catty-corner a Southern word?
Regional Differences. As you can see from the map of responses, people in the South, as far west as Texas and as far north as Pennsylvania and Nebraska, are much more likely to say catty-corner, whereas everyone else in the US and Canada is more likely to say kitty-corner.
What came first kitty corner or catty-corner?
The phrase first appeared in 1838 as “catty-corner,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, but “katterkorner’d” was used in 1843. The Shropshire Word Book, an 1878 “Glossary of Archaic and Provincial Words,” included “cater-cornered as an adjective,” but also included “scatter-corner” as an adverbial form.
Is kitty corner a Midwest thing?
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 “kitty-corner.” These people were mostly concentrated in the northern states.
Is kitty-corner a Midwest thing?
What came first kitty-corner or catty-corner?
What’s another word for kitty-corner?
What is another word for kitty-corner?
| athwart | bias |
|---|---|
| crossways | crosswise |
| diagonally | obliquely |
| transversely | catercorner |
| catty-corner | on the bias |
What does Cattywampus mean?
Definition – askew, awry, kitty-corner. Cattywampus is a variant of catawampus, another example of grand 19th century American slang. In addition to “askew” catawampus may refer to “an imaginary fierce wild animal,” or may mean “savage, destructive.”
What is another word for kitty corner?
What is another word for kitty-corner?
| athwart | bias |
|---|---|
| diagonally | obliquely |
| transversely | catercorner |
| catty-corner | on the bias |
| on the diagonal | aslant |
What is the synonym of diagonal?
In this page you can discover 36 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for diagonal, like: horizontal-line, oblique, catercorner, ellipse, slanting, angled, slanted, biased, right-angled, centerline and right-angle.
What is cater Corner?
Adjective. cater-corner (not comparable) (US, Canada) Of or pertaining to something at a diagonal to another; of four corners, those diagonal to another.
What is opposite of diagonal?
(flat) Opposite of having, or running in, a slanted or oblique direction. flat.
What is the origin of the word kitty corner?
Interesting fact about Kitty-Corner The term ‘kitty-corner’ has nothing to do with cats. Instead, it stems from the expression ‘cater-corner,’ which is derived from “quatre,” the French word for “four.” The term was used to describe the way the dots are placed on a dice positioned at number four, diagonally from one another.
How do you use the term ‘kitty-corner’?
You use the term ‘Kitty-Corner’ to indicate that something is positioned diagonally. Example of use: “Our house is kitty-corner from the park.” The term ‘kitty-corner’ has nothing to do with cats. Instead, it stems from the expression ‘cater-corner,’ which is derived from “quatre,” the French word for “four.”
What is the origin of the word “corner”?
Instead, it stems from the expression ‘cater-corner,’ which is derived from “quatre,” the French word for “four.” The term was used to describe the way the dots are placed on a dice positioned at number four, diagonally from one another. Go beyond correction.
What is the origin of the word catercorner?
The “cater” is an Anglicization of the French “quatre,” or “four,” and “catercornered” originally just meant “four-cornered.” To specify that something is “catercorner across” from something else is to stress the diagonal axis of an imaginary box, as opposed to saying “directly across” or just “across.”