[Ads-l] catawampus, bodacious, etc. (Cracker Dictionary, 1830)

[Ben Zimmer]

I mention the connection to "cater/catty/kitty-corner(ed)" in the WSJ
column. The OED's unrevised etymological info for "catawamp(o)us" is silent
on this point, but there's surely some cross-pollination there.

On Fri, Apr 12, 2024 at 1:57 PM Andy Bach <afbach at gmail.com> wrote:

> We use it to mean like kitty [katty] corner = diagonally positioned, which
> is sort of like awry.
>
> On Fri, Apr 12, 2024 at 10:59 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > My Wall Street Journal column this week is on "catawampus," after the
> word
> > appeared prominently in the series finale of HBO's "Curb Your
> Enthusiasm."
> > Non-paywalled link: https://on.wsj.com/49zs5Vu (Warning: spoilers in the
> > first few paragraphs!)
> >
> > The OED's treatment of "catawampus" and related terms is a bit of a mess,
> > evidently unrevised since the early OED1 days. These are the current
> > entries:
> >
> > * catawampous, adj. (1840) "Fierce, unsparing, destructive. Also, askew,
> > awry. (A high-sounding word with no very definite meaning.)"
> >
> > * catawampously, adv. (1853) "See _catawampous_ adj."
> >
> > * catawamptiously, adv. (1857) "'Fiercely, eagerly. To be catawamptiously
> > chawed up is to be completely demolished, utterly defeated' (Bartlett
> Dict.
> > Americanisms)."
> >
> > * catawampus, n. (1843) "A bogy, a fierce imaginary animal."
> >
> > There are no cross-references between "catawampous" and "catawampus," or
> > any indication that the sense listed at "catawampous" is more typically
> > spelled "catawampus." There's also no treatment of the many variant
> > spellings, most notably "cattywampus." Oh, and the sense given as an
> > adjective is very often adverbial, as in "go (all) catawampus" = 'go
> awry.'
> >
> > In any case, here are a few cites that would be useful for the eventual
> > revisions.
> >
> > ---
> > Georgia Messenger, May 15, 1830, p. 2, col. 4
> > The following _Cracker_ Dictionary, suited to our vicinity, has recently
> > been submitted to the public, through the newspapers and we have no
> doubt,
> > from its constant use will be approved.
> > CRACKER DICTIONARY.
> > Bodaciously, Corporeously.
> > Chatawampusly, Obliquely -- bias.
> > [etc.]
> >
> >
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/georgia-journal-and-messenger-cracker-di/145012861/
> > --
> > New York Evening Post, May 18, 1830, p. 2, col. 2
> > The Augusta Courier contains a specimen of a "Cracker Dictionary," which
> > makes us acquainted with some very curious terms in use among the
> Southern
> > Cocknesy. At the head of the list we find the following words: --
> > Bodaceously, Catawampously, Contraption, &c.
> >
> >
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-post-cracker-dictionary/145012990/
> > ---
> > Carolina Sentinel, June 12, 1830, p. 1, col. 4
> > The Augusta Courier gives a specimen of _the Cracker Dictionary_, an
> > unpublished [illegible] some of the definitions:
> > _Bodiaciously_--means corporeously. -- _Catawampusly_, obliquely, bias.
> > [etc.]
> >
> >
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/newbern-sentinel-cracker-dictionary/145010166/
> > ---
> >
> > The "Cracker Dictionary" also provides antedatings for "bodaciously" and
> > other terms. I'm sure the OED editors already have all of this in their
> > files, as the entry for "absquatulate" (revised Dec. 2011) has the
> Georgia
> > Messenger item as the first cite (it appears on the list as
> > "obsquatulate").
> >
> > I haven't seen the (Augusta) Georgia Courier version of the "Cracker
> > Dictionary" referenced in the second and third cites above -- I had no
> luck
> > finding it in the Courier archives here:
> > https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82015765/
> >
> > It's interesting to see how spelling variants proliferated from the start
> > -- "bodaciously" vs. "bodaceously" vs. "bodiaciously", "chatawampusly"
> vs.
> > "catawampously" vs. "catawampusly", etc. It's also notable that the
> > adverbial "-ly" forms appear first, but for ostentatiously polysyllabic
> > words like this, I guess every syllable counts.
> >
> > --bgz
>

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