catawampus

• Audio (Southern England):

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• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌkætəˈwɑmpəs/, /ˈkætəwɑmpəs/

The first part may be related to cater-corner. The second part may be related to wampish (“wriggle, twist about like a fish”).

catawampus (comparative more catawampus, superlative most catawampus)

1. (US) Out of alignment, in disarray or disorder: crooked, askew.
   • 1885, Charles Egbert Craddock, Down the Ravine:

     "Waal, I noticed ez the aidge o' one o' them boards war sot sorter catawampus, ...".

   • (Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     "Remember when Justin missed the T in the software code and tanked the reports for the client. What a catawampus that was.".

• catawampous
• catawamptious
• (influenced by cat, catty, kitty) cattywampus, cattywampous; kittywampus, kittywumpus
• (with other initial elements) caddywompus, caliwampus, caliwampous; cankywampus

• (out of alignment): askew, awry, crooked, off-kilter; sigogglin; skewampus / skiwampus
• (fierce, destructive): destructive, fierce

catawampus (comparative more catawampus, superlative most catawampus)

1. (US) Diagonally.
2. (US) Utterly.

Perhaps from catamount (“cougar, puma, lynx”), influenced by the adjective above.

catawampus (plural catawampuses)

1. (US) A fierce imaginary animal, a bogeyman.

catawampus (comparative more catawampus, superlative most catawampus)

1. (US) Fierce, destructive.
   • 1844, Charles Dickens, chapter 21, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit:

     There air some catawampous chawers in the small way too, as graze upon a human pretty strong; but don't mind them, they're company.

• Jonathan E. Lighter, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume I, A-G. Random House USA, 1994. →ISBN.
• Frederic G[omes] Cassidy, editor (1985), “catawampus”, in Dictionary of American Regional English, volumes I (Introduction and A–C), Cambridge, Mass., London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, →ISBN, pages 558–559.
• Eric Partridge, The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang. Routledge, 1973. →ISBN.
• Mrs. Byrne [Josefa Heifetz Byrne] (1979) “catawampus”, in Mrs. Byrne’s Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words: Gathered from Numerous and Diverse Authoritative Sources, London: Granada Publishing, →ISBN.

• Down the Ravine by Charles Egbert Craddock at the Internet Archive
• The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit at Project Gutenberg