Talk:kitty-corner

Can pron. "kiddy-corner"
I was raised pronouncing and thinking of it sp. this way; might be a Canadianism, i.e. the intervocalic 't' turning to a 'd', but in Canadian English vs. Standard American it's usually the other way around. I don't know the IPA to write the alternative pronunciation, subtle though the difference is; I suspect our vowels are different, also.Skookum1 18:35, 10 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Most uses of "kiddy corner" and "kiddy-corner" seem to be naming areas for children. There are a few instances where it is a misspelling of "kitty-corner", but I can't find enough to warrant an entry for "kiddy-corner". Rod (A. Smith) 05:18, 14 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Everyone I know spells and pronounces it "kiddy-corner", especially in the elementary level. All of my teaching colleagues spell it that way. (I'm in Northwest Indiana) 192.195.230.250 18:00, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Origins of kitty-corner
I was explaining kitty-corner to my Indonesian subordinate when I started to wonder just how it came about. Searching around, I discovered it's a folk etymology of catercorner, which has several variants. It's easy enough to search for results on the web: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kit1.htm http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/12/messages/475.html http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kitty-corner?show=0&t=1300416754

I thought I'd propose an explanation for the kitty-corner variant. Given the kiddy-corner variant discussed before, I thought it worth trying. I suspect that, aside from being an attempt to make the word more understandable, the choice of kitty was derived from the feline's inveterate distaste for traffic rules, to the point that they'll routinely jay-walk - including diagonally across an intersection. I'm only being half tongue-in-cheek here, as it makes sense. Whether it bears water or not, I suspect, will have to be left to you experts. ReveurGAM 03:00, 18 March 2011 (UTC)