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24 paź 2016 · The true origin of cattywampus may be lost (if it was ever known), but any serious attempt to account for the name should, I think, take seriously the strong tendency of dictionaries during the 1800s to link the term to catamounts—and to the survival of wampus cats even today.
14 cze 2021 · Catawampus is a protean, nonsense word. It has no specific meaning, changing to fit the circumstances. Over the years it has meant askew, total or totally, excessive or excessively, ill-tempered, a fanciful creature, and so on. Similarly, it has been used as an adjective, noun, verb, adverb, exclamation, and proper name.
2 gru 2017 · The Etymology of “Cattywampus”. “Cattywampus” (1834) has held a variety of meanings and spellings, including as an adverb (catawampusly) meaning “completely/utterly/avidly,” a name for a fantastical imp-like creature or a mountain lion, and an adjective meaning “askew,” from obsolete “cater,” from the Greek prefix kata ...
"Cattywampus" (1834) has many meanings, spellings and supposed origins: the adverb catawampusly (completely/utterly/avidly), a hobgoblin (from a word for a cougar), and—today—an adjective meaning "askew," from an obsolete meaning of "cater" + old Scottish slang wampish (to wriggle or twist about). : r/etymology.
The earliest known use of the noun catawampus is in the 1840s. OED's earliest evidence for catawampus is from 1843, in the writing of ‘Robert Carlton’ (real name Baynard Rush Hall).
28 lut 2024 · The History of Catawampus. Catawampus may tickle our funny bone now, but it has not always amused. According to WordOrigins.org, catawampus is a nonsense word that doesn’t have a fixed meaning. It can mean “askew”, “ill-tempered”, or even be used as the name of a fanciful monster.
13 lis 2022 · Entries linking to catawampus catamount (n.) 1660s as a shortening of cat-o'-mountain (1610s), from cat of the mountain (mid-15c.), a name aplied to various large wild cats of the Old World.