Antigoglin

Posted by ESC on November 09, 2004

In Reply to: Kitty-cornered=antigoggling posted by ESC on November 09, 2004

: : Is *antigoggling* commonly used in the UK?

: : Thanks

: : What is the meaning of *His thinking runs absolutely catercorner to everyone else's*?

: : Thanks again

: CATER-CORNERED - diagonal; placed diagonally. A cater-corned walk crosses the park. ("The World Book Dictionary," World Book Inc., Chicago, 1991.) "cater-corner/cater-cornered/catawampus/cattywampus - The correct spelling of this term is either 'cater-corner' or 'cater-cornered,' though two variant forms, kitty-corner and katty-corner, are often heard in our various regional dialects. Actually the word 'cater' comes from the French 'quatre' and thus the term originally meant 'four-cornered.' But by a process known to language students as 'folk etymology,' the ordinary users of the term thought they detected an analogy to the ordinary domestic feline. Hence cater soon became 'catty' and eventually 'kitty.' The variations on this phrase are too many to list, but our favorite has long been 'catawampus' or 'cattywampus,' a dialect term heard throughout the South, from the Carolinas to Texas. You'll often hear the expression: 'He walked cattywampus across the street,' and down in Tennessee a college president of mathematics was once heard to say: 'You might call a rhombus a catawampus square.' Still another sense of 'catawampus' and 'catty wampus' was common in some sections of the antebellum South. It meant goblin, sprite or, sometimes, fearsome beast. Slaveowners were known to warn slaves they thought might be planning to run away that 'catawampus cats' were lurking in wait for them. They sometimes also made fearsome noises in the night, which they claimed were the bloodthirsty roars of the catawampus cats.'" (The Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and Mary Morris, HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988.)

I am guessing that antigoggling isn't used in the UK.

antigoglin -- adj., adv. Also annigoglin, antegogglin' and antigogglin(g). 1. askew, out of plumb. 2. Slantwise, diagonal(ly). This reference says it is used in the South and West. (anti-, against, counter + goggling, from goggle, to shake, tremble.) "Dictionary of American Regional English," Volume 1 by Frederic G. Cassidy (1985, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London, England).

• Antigoglin David FG 09/November/04