Words From the South
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May 28, 2009

If the title "Standard English" depended on the number of people who spoke it or the interesting words it contains, Southern English would be Standard.

The 11 former Confederate states have a population greater than that of England, Canada, Australia, the Northeastern U.S., the Midwest or the West Coast.

Rosemary Drisdelle

Furthermore, Southern speech contains a rich trove of colorful words, some of which have made it into the general language. Others lurk in obscure corners of the dictionary.
Antigoglin and Cattywampus

For instance, there’s “antigoglin.”

If you ask the people of Northeast Tennessee for a definition of “antigoglin,” they’ll probably say it means about the same thing as “cattywampus.”

Cattywampus itself has an interesting history. Evan Morris, in “The Word Detective,” says it may get its “catty” beginning from the “cata” in “catamount” – a folk name for a wildcat. “Wampus,” he speculates, may be derived from the Scottish “wampish,” which means twisted or wriggled.

Morris says"cattywampus" can mean a “strange or objectionable person” or “a fierce, imaginary animal.”
Wampus Kitty

A cattywampus is probably kissing kin to a wampus kitty, a famous specimen of which belonged to Caroline Lockhart. She was a wild-west daredevil who bought out the Cody Enterprise in Wyoming in 1919. She owned a lynx, which she named “Wampus Kitty.”

“Cattywampus” is also used to describe something disordered or askew, which takes us back to the Scottish term “wampus.”

It also reminds us of the word “catty-cornered,” which may take us closer to the meaning of “antigoglin.”
From Quatre to Catty-Cornered

The “catty” in “catty-cornered” is an outgrowth of “cater” in “cater-cornered.” That “cater” comes from the French word “quatre,” meaning “four.” In English, it means diagonally.

According to Encarta World English Dictionary, “antigoglin” means “in a diagonal direction.” It entered the English language late in the 19th century, apparently being derived from “goggle,” a word from British dialect meaning “to shake or tremble.” It can also mean “askew.” Webster’s Third New International gives it a slightly different spelling – “antigodlin.” Michael A. Fischer’s “Worthless Word for Today” lists it under “antigodlin,” with “antigoglin” as an alternate spelling.
Southern and Western Synonyms

Encarta says both the "askew" and "diagonal" senses of "antigoglin" are found in the Southern, South Midland and Western United States. These regions share several synonyms, it notes, “none of which is easily distinguished in meaning from the others." The synonyms include "angly," "blasy," "catawampus," "crossways" and "diagnonally."
Well I'll Swanny

Southerners of the World War II generation may have heard their mothers say “I’ll swan” or “I’ll swanny” when confronted with a surprising situation.

In present-day England, the verb "swan" means "to travel, move or behave in a relaxed way for pleasure, and without caring that others may feel annoyed." That's the definition given by the Cambridge International Dictionary of English.

But in the American South, including Texas and Oklahoma, "I swan" is the rough equivalent of "I'll swear," used as a mild oath.
I Shall Warrant Ye

The American Heritage Dictionary consulted the Oxford English Dictionary and came up with this plausible explanation: In the North of England, in days of yore, people were wont to say "I shall warrant ye." Translated into contemporary Southern English, that meant, "I'll flat-out guarantee you."

If you say "I shall warrant ye" fast enough and with a heavy enough English accent, it comes out sounding something like "I swanny."

The expression came to America on the lips of English immigrants and found a congenial home in the South and Southwest, alongside cattywampus, antigoglin, blasy and a lot of other good but rare words.