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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19 |
i checked to see if this was a YART (hi kev), but my searches came up empty save one oblique reference... i used the phrase kitty corner the other day and it fell on confused ears. is this an uncommon term? i LIU'd and it appears the original was 'catty corner' (from the french '4'), and the transmogrification  from that to 'kitty' seems natural, but is this only a regional permutation? and of those of you who use it, do you reserve it (as i do) for use in describing physical locations when giving directions involving actual corners (eg: it's kitty corner from the gas station at the intersection of X and Y streets)?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Kitty corner, catty corner, catta corner. And yes, I would use it (almost) solely for the description of a physical relationship based on location at a street intersection. I have heard it used in a context in which I would have used diagonal or cattawampus, to describe a building that was not square to the nearest road, but would not consider such usage to be at all common.
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19 |
cattawampus??
now that one's not on m-w at all. any clue as to the etymology? other usage examples? always an adjective? and dare i ask about the plural ~ a row of squat cattawampi tenements framing the bleakest corner of the city? hmm, i kinda like it.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Or either cattywampus, one. I'd say, e.g., the building was cattywampus to the street. But even that's not the common usage. The common usage would be more like, "rather than making a neat pile, Faldage left the old newspapers scattered all cattywampus on the floor."
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Kitty corner is very familiar and always seems to be about intersections around here. I have heard cattawumpus but rarely enough that I had forgotten it. I do like the sound it makes. Makes me think of a skein of wool after cats been playing with it.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
as Fald the Wampuser says. 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
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Joined: Apr 2003
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 19 |
i reckon the 'whom' was just an attempt to get us to aspirate the "W" a bit.... but i also reckon you knew that =)
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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The phrase "recommended for deletion" sounds like some Brave New World, Matrix, Borg term for someone selected to die. There are lots of words which I wouldn't mind deleting from the English language, but the populist thing about English is that no one can delete anything from it ... only by dissuse can a word finally slip off the stage, unnoticed.
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Hmmm, Kitty corner is never used to describe intersections here. It usually describes a the positioning of an object/furniture in the corner of a room so that it touches both wall. This leaves a triangular space behind the object.
Like in a letter "A" the horizontal bar is placed kitty corner to the two longer bars.
Am I explaining this correctly? Is it understandable?
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
In some cities, notably San Francisco and Minneapolis, urban pedestrians who wish to cross two streets at an intersection, traveling from one corner to the corner diagonally opposite, are afforded that opportunity by a system whuch stops vehicular traffic in all four directions, allowing them to cross kitty-corner all at once, rather than using two cross walks and waiting on two traffic lights. Clever.
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,891 |
Ooof, there'd be an awful lot of dead pedestrians in Québec if they tried that.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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There'd be a lot of dead Seattlites if we tried that here, too.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Like in a letter "A"Makes sense to me. The lovely AnnaS useed it the other day to describe the street corner thang only without the streets: +
+ Those two plus signs are kittycorner to each other.
I mo stay clear of Seattle and Québec if the drivers there are going to run red lights just because the cross traffic also has a red light.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
I've never, ever heard either of the versions of this expression before ... hey, I've learned something new! 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
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Thanks, Capfka, I'm glad to know that I wasn't the only one unfamiliar with thses terms.
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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Bien non, you can come to Québec anytime Faldage. I'll teach you and AnnaS how to zig and zag through our streets without fear.
Well, o.k., a little bit of fear, but it's good to get the adrenalin going once in a while.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I am more used to hearing the expression as ‘katey-corner’, so I Googled that and found the following from someone in Minneapolis:
“I watched a guy sitting kiddie-corner to me (that's katey-corner to you southerners - I didn't misspell it; that's what we call it here).”
That was the only link I could find, which surprised me. Any comments from all y'all southerners or Minneapolites?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Minneapolites
Shouldn't that be Minneapolitans?
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
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Shouldn't that be Minneapolitans
Minneapolitans? aren't they a miniture french pastry? made from layer of puff pastry, and cream custard, topped with a chocolate icing? --Oops, that mini napolians..
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I have always heard they are polite in minneapolis - so: minneapolites.
Anyway, the small chocolate confectionaries are mini-neapolitans.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Unless you drop a mini-neapolitan on your lap when it becomes a mini-kneeapolitan.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
neapolitan - isn't that the three colour ice-cream mix (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla)
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
Right you are, bel. Neopolitan, napoleon - a sweet by any other name...
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