For all those who have criticized my use of the words
catacorner and
catty-corner instead of
kitty-corner:
The etymology of
kitty-corner is that it originally came into
American
English as
catercorner.
The first part of the word was derived from
quatre,
Middle
French for
four.
Everyday users of the term thought they detected analogy to the domestic feline; hence,
cater- soon became
catty- and eventually
kitty-. In all cases of judgement,
catercorner is considered the most proper.
All forms are considered
Americanisms and contemporary use is most common to the
American
Midwest.
Some sources do speculate that
kitty-corner is more common in
Western and
Northern portions of the
Midwest whileas
catty-corner is more common to the
Eastern and
Southern
Midwest, which would fit with my criticism coming from
Minnesota and
Canada whileas I grew up in
Chicago.