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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Cattywumpus? #12860 12/14/00 07:07 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 544 San Francisco, CA H Hyla OP addict OP Hyla addict H Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 544 San Francisco, CA Every now and then I hear someone say, when describing a situation that is totally out of control, that is has "gone all cattywumpus," although I can't confirm the spelling. Notions on correct spelling (a rarity in such terms, I understand) and, more importantly, where the cat who wumps comes from? Hyla Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Cattywumpus? #12861 12/14/00 07:20 PM Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park of troy Carpal Tunnel of troy Carpal Tunnel Joined: Oct 2000 Posts: 5,400 rego park i've never heard cattywumpus--maybe cat-a-wumpus... and as for origins don't know, except for maybe from the Hunt the wumpus --a early (about 1st pacman) computer game.. actually earlier since some versions are not GUI. my other obsession Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Cattywumpus? #12862 12/14/00 07:21 PM Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 M maverick Carpal Tunnel maverick Carpal Tunnel M Joined: Sep 2000 Posts: 4,757 Hi and welcome to the madhouse! You will soon see we have spawned a few acronyms here, one of which is a self-help support: YCLIU, standing for you can look it up. I did that using google, specifying <catawampus+etymology>, and got this: http://www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/bulletin_board/3/messages/486.html What do you think? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Cattywumpus? #12863 12/14/00 07:23 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass this is an interesting word, which probably gets different treatment from different resources. W3 gives cattywampus as a variant of catawamp[o]us, which in turn has two listings. the first is marked "dial. an imaginary fierce wild animal", probably an alteration of catamount. the second is your adjective, given as "1) fierce, savage 2) askew, awry, cater-cornered", probably by folk etymology [misapprehension] from catercorner. I'll check OED too, unless someone else has it. p.s. - this also merits YART status (yet another rehashed topic) http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=3495 Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Cattywumpus? #12864 12/16/00 05:13 PM Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 New England, USA W wow Carpal Tunnel wow Carpal Tunnel W Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 New England, USA Welcome Hyla, I've heard catawampus used by Old Timers meaning a fierce wild animal ... sometimes used to describe a man who has had a bit too much alcoholic intake! The word is more often heard, around here anyway, in more rural locations. WOW Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary Forum Statistics Forums16 Topics13,913 Posts229,354 Members9,182 Most Online3,341 Dec 9th, 2011 Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV 9,182 Registered Users Who's Online Now 1 members (wofahulicodoc), 574 guests, and 1 robot. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters(30 Days) wofahulicodoc 29 A C Bowden 22 LukeJavan8 3 ddrinnan 1 Top Posters wwh 13,858 Faldage 13,803 Jackie 11,613 wofahulicodoc 10,550 tsuwm 10,542 LukeJavan8 9,919 Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210 AnnaStrophic 6,511 Wordwind 6,296 of troy 5,400

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