Kitty, Catty, Cater cornered or something else?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

I was talking to someone today and they used the term catty cornered, I said ‘you mean kitty cornered?’ short discussion ended in my claiming I was right regardless of what he had to say.(no i wasn’t being serious)

So I looked it up and found this

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/4/messages/1054.html

#2

I just say it’s diaganol to _____.

#3

In my family “catty-wampus” means crooked or off-sqaure, not diagonal.
I’ve heard “kitty corner” for diagonal, but not a super common term in my experience.

Brian

#4

It’s catty-corner, not catty-cornered. Not a super common term, heard mostly from my dad.

#5

Kitty-corner, no “ed.”

#6

Yes, that’s the common usage here too.

#7

This.

I agree with N9IWP. “Catty-wampus” means off-kilter, mixed/messed up.

#8

I guess “kitty-corner” although I thought it was more pronounced like “kiddie” so that’s what I assumed it was growing up. Huh.

#9

I always thought it was catercorner and everything else was derived from that.

#10

The poll didn’t have a category for what the hell does that mean anyway so I went with something else. Now I’ve read the defnition I just say boring old diagonal. I’m in the UK btw.

#11

Me too, but everyone I’ve ever heard say it said “wumpus” not “wampus.”

#12

I’ve usually heard “kitty corner”, rarely “catty corner”, even more rarely with the “-ed” in either case, and I’ve never heard “catercorner”.
“Cattywumpus” has, AFAIK, nothing at all to do with diagonals.

#13

I thought it was catecorner. That wasn’t up there so I chose Cater-cornered.

#14

I’ve seen it spelled catticornered, so I never put it together wtih “cat,” to make “kitty.”

#15

I voted for kitty-cornered. If the poll had allowed I would’ve gone with catty-wumpus* as well.

*not to be confused with the Wampus Cat

#16

In western Ohio growing up in the 70’s, everyone said catty-corner. Living in central Michigan since the mid-80’s, I hear only kitty-corner. I still have to think about where I am before I choose which to say.

#17

Kitty-corner, but only for a street.

And I agree, catty wampus doesn’t belong in this conversation. It means something else altogether.

#18

I’ve heard only kitty-corner (as in, “She walked across the street kitty-corner,” meaning to go from one diagonal corner to the other).

#19

Kitty-corner, usually, although I’ve heard catty-corner. And it always refers to buildings on streets, as in “the Baptist church is kitty-corner from my house” (which it is).

#20

I’m feeling very vindicated right now.

The first time I heard this term as a kid, it was kitty. And my sister was there with me. Just a year or two ago, I said kitty, and my sister and her daughter gave me a lot of stick for it. They said it was catty, and everyone knew that, and what the hell was wrong with me?

So there, sis.