The strangest words in the English language

northwest Career College ^ | Updated February 25, 2025 | Dr. Thomas Kenny

[kawhill]

The strangest words in the English language Cattywampus Originating in the Colonial United states and still used in the deep South, cattywampus means something that is in disarray, that is askew, or something that isn’t directly across from something.

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TOPICS: Education; History
KEYWORDS: cattywampus; collywobbles; gardyloo

[markman46]

my dad used cattywampus a lot, if something he was building or me and my brother were putting together and it was not stright he would tell us its cattywampus..

or he would tell us we did something backasswards

[Antoninus]

Love it. I shall begin using this word immediately.

It must be an American word because it never appeared in any of the Patrick O'Brian novels, and he got pretty deep into the jargon.

[Antoninus]

sialoquent

That's a new one. Very evocative. And kind of nasty. I still prefer stultiloquent, however.

[mass55th]

"In the UK it’s: “Too right mate!"

That's funny. I've never heard that and I watch a lot of British made TV shows. Another one that I've always found strange is that they use the line "Did you have any joy"? That's in relation to having any success with doing something, like in a detective series, having any luck finding a new connection or new evidence.

[mass55th]

"Pecksniffian."

LOL!! Some of them here on FR.

[mass55th]

"I hope that came across properly"

Absolutely. Thanks for sharing that. I'd never heard it before. It's like the British mispronounce the word "schedule" the same way. Aluminum they pronounce al-u-min-i-um. And garage, as gair-ige (gar as in garish). Thankfully we didn't adopt their word biscuit for cookie. Cookie is actually from the Dutch word for cookie...Koekje, which is pronounced Kook-ja.

[CarolinaReaganFan]

I’ve always used Cattywampus and heard it often (in SC)
my son (grew up in cali) questioned it when i said once regarding an unsquare window, there’s probably others.

[Daveinyork]

I think that was Jack Parr.

[qam1]

Those usages are not vowels, they are nouns.

Oops mistype,

Of all forums Freerepublic is the only one not to have an edit feature and it really needs one badly.

[CommerceComet]

my dad used cattywampus a lot, if something he was building or me and my brother were putting together and it was not stright he would tell us its cattywampus..

I also heard that word first from my dad, although I can't remember the context. However, it could well have been in reference to something that my brother and I were doing. Lord knows we made a lot of things that were cattywampus.

[markman46]

Yes it was.. and that is how johnny carson got the tonight show

[markman46]

so did my brother and i.. boy scount camps tents fire pits etc making model airplanes.. something was always cattywampus

[Wiser now]

Those turrets on castles were toilets. The waste would fall into the moat below.

[Albion Wilde]

Of all forums Freerepublic is the only one not to have an edit feature and it really needs one badly.

If it did, the lives of us grammar nazis would be so empty and meaningless...

[Fledermaus]

Groan 🤣

[dfwgator]

[mabarker1]

Thank Y’All 🙏🇺🇸 I will leave the “hyphen” decision up to the FRSAGaGSP (FR self appointed grammar and spelling Police).

[Celtic Conservative]

One of my favorite (favourite?)
maledictions Is “begone, thou scolding harridan!”

CC

[ladyjane]

Gerrymandering is named after a governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry. He created a district that looked like a salamander, hence the word gerrymander. He also had a street named after him in Cambridge, Gerry’s Landing.

Another interesting word is uxorious. It means being overly dedicated to one’s wife! Years ago when only men owned real estate, if a husband and wife bought property, even if the woman paid the entire bill, the deed would read John B. Smith et ux. Ux is an abbreviation of uxor the Latin word for wife.