# "kitty-corner" or "catty-corner"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 4, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178 "2011-04-04T19:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/21 "2011-04-05T00:34:33Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And I’ve never heard of catty-corner or catercorner until these threads. I’ve only heard (and used) kitty-corner. Same with me. That etymology is really interesting. However, I’m not even sure how you’d say ‘catercorner’. Like ‘cater’ as in “I’m catering a big wedding” plus “corner”? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/22 "2011-04-05T00:38:54Z")
catty-corner? stop saying that, it makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/23 "2011-04-05T02:28:18Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > In other words… in many voices it sounds like “catty-corner.” Not in any way that I can imagine. Cat-a-cor-ner. No y sound in there at all. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/24 "2011-04-05T02:55:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I just say diagonally. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/25 "2011-04-05T04:44:05Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I just say diagonally. I take “catercorner” to have a very slightly different connotation. A diagonal doesn’t have to involve the corners of a figure. I picture something that is catercorner as actually positioned in a corner–usually athwart it. I might describe a box sitting in the corner of a room with one of its sides facing into the corner as sitting “catercorner”–that is, it’s sitting diagonally across the corner. Yeah…it’s not a term I have much call for, either. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/26 "2011-04-05T04:56:52Z")
I’m allergic to cats. More of a dog person, me. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/27 "2011-04-05T06:55:00Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > Not in any way that I can imagine. Cat-a-cor-ner. No y sound in there at all. Then you are not familiar with quite a lot accents local to me. I hear it all the time around here. /e/ or /ɛ/ are often pronounced as \* when unstressed at the end of words. The only thing that’s weird here is that it’s not the end of a word. It’s done by the same people who say Mondee, Tuesdee, Wenzdee, etc. Anyways, I had no idea that this was another one of those words affected by our accent. But I never thought it was catty-corner: it’s caddy-corner. /d/ in the middle of words is slightly harder than /t/ because it’s pronounced slightly further back in the mouth. I am quite happy to learn that it’s like victuals–a real word. Firefox even recognizes it: catercorner. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/28 "2011-04-05T09:32:23Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I just say diagonally. Yup. I’d never heard of any of these strange cat-directions till I read the Dope! ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/29 "2011-04-05T13:52:02Z")
It’s Cat+schwa+corner. So like CATeCorner. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/30 "2011-04-05T16:10:12Z")
I had never heard of this until now. Is it an American thing? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/31 "2011-04-05T17:09:07Z")
I have heard both, but it is more common for me to catty-corner. Where I grew up I even heard catty-wampus. (Upon edit, I see others have mentioned it.) ---
**Author:** ![llcoolbj77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb9ed0/32.png) [@llcoolbj77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/llcoolbj77)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/32 "2011-04-05T17:30:45Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It’s Cat+schwa+corner. So like CATeCorner. Yup! Schwa was one of those awesome things I remember from elementary school. It’s just a great word. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/33 "2011-04-05T18:35:32Z")
I agree with those who say that cattywampus/catawampus means something entirely different from “diagonally” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/34 "2011-04-05T18:45:35Z")
I’ve only ever heard kitty-corner, also misspelled as “kiddy”-corner. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/35 "2011-04-05T21:19:26Z")
Has nothing to do with cats. It’s caddy corner. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/36 "2011-04-06T00:28:55Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Then you are not familiar with quite a lot accents local to me. I hear it all the time around here. /e/ or /ɛ/ are often pronounced as \* when unstressed at the end of words. The only thing that’s weird here is that it’s not the end of a word. It’s done by the same people who say Mondee, Tuesdee, Wenzdee, etc. > > Anyways, I had no idea that this was another one of those words affected by our accent. But I never thought it was catty-corner: it’s caddy-corner. /d/ in the middle of words is slightly harder than /t/ because it’s pronounced slightly further back in the mouth. > > I am quite happy to learn that it’s like victuals–a real word. Firefox even recognizes it: catercorner. Cool. Okay, I probably pronounce it more like cadd-a-corner now that you mention that. I don’t really make the hard T sound in it. But I also tend to say Mondee, Tuesdee, etc. How do you pronounce cauliflower? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/37 "2011-04-06T17:20:22Z")
Growing up in a small town in Illinois, both phrases were common. However, apparently I have had no need to use the phrase in a long time - as I have no idea which I would say today. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/38 "2011-04-06T17:27:36Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@jasonh300](#): > > > > Cat-a-cor-ner. No y sound in there at all. > > I hear it all the time around here. /e/ or /ɛ/ are often pronounced as \* when unstressed at the end of words. The only thing that’s weird here is that it’s not the end of a word. I’ve heard Catholics refer to catty-chisms. Same effect. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/39 "2011-04-06T18:56:47Z")
In order of preference: 1. Kitty corner 2. Catty corner 3. Hi Opal! ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178/40 "2011-04-06T19:12:11Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I’m allergic to cats. More of a dog person, me. “Diagdogonally”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kitty-corner-or-catty-corner/577178.md?page=3)