When and Where Did I Find It: I was reading my daily email from A.Word.A.Day and this was the word featured on Tuesday 11.08.11.
Full citation A.Word.A.Day. (online). catawampus. http://wordsmith.org/words/catawampus.html (11.11.11).
What it means: According to the website, it is an adjective which is used to describe something as 1. Askew; crooked. 2. Diagonally positioned: catercornered.
Also interesting to note is the etymology of the word:
From cater (diagonally), from French word quatre (four). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kwetwer- (four), which also gave us four, square, cadre, quadrant, quarantine (literally, period of forty days). Earliest documented use: 1840. The word is also spelled as cattywampus.
Level of Familiarity: I knew what this word meant, but I admit, I had completely forgotten the word even existed until I saw it.
Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? I think this is a really fun word. I like to say it (I like the way it sounds). Also, even though it is a word that was created to help in literally describing a particular geometric shape/angle, I think it is a really useful word to use to describe one's emotional or physiological shape. If someone said to you, "I'm feeling cattywampus today," you would know to be very careful with how you interacted with this person.
Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...if so WHO and WHY?
To be fair, I suppose I cannot expect others to find this word as interesting and memorable as I do. However, I do think knowing this word would help those who are interested in art, interior design, mathematics, geometry, and writing figuratively.
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