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The Kitchen Table

Phrase of the day 4/9

jim_1 (Zone 5B)

5 years ago

Kitty-cornered

This phrase is a colloquial variation of cater-cornered, meaning “diagonal.” Cater-cornered comes from the French word quatre (four) and “cornered.” It has a long history, having appeared in print as early as 1519, so it probably was well established in the popular tongue not long after the Norman Conquest.

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Comments (5)

Annie Deighnaugh
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Not to be confused with putting baby in the corner....but cornering a kitty is ok.
User
5 years ago
I've heard kitty-corner and catty-corner about equally my whole life. I don't remember ever hearing "diagonally across the street" as a direction, but that would make sense too, wouldn't it. Funny the things you use constantly but don't think about!
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Rusty again
5 years ago
I've always heard and said 'katty-corner', and wondered what cats had to do with directions. Now it makes sense, thanks, Jim!

Rusty
crazybrunette64
5 years ago
I've also heard it as cattywampus.
Elmer J Fudd
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I believe the source of quat... or cuat.(same root, different spelling to account for phonetic differences) for the number 4 is Latin. That root is common to all romance (Latinate) languages - Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and many of the regional dialects, in addition to French. The Latin sourced word may have entered English through French like so many words that did. But if so French was the carrier only, not the source.

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