The Cattywumpus in the fuel line

[Terry, NJ]

Ok, So maybe I didn't spell it right, But I was close! So last night I pulled the brass shut off valve under the tank off. It was leaking internally. I lapped the shaft/stem till I got shiny all around. I was having rust in the tank issues and it had made the valve difficult to open and shut. Anyway my back was giving me a hard time so I wanted to get it done and go sit down. (The hurrier I go the Behinder I get!) and I paid NO attention to the position/orientation of the passageways in the stem when I put the handle back on. So today, I spent two hours try to start it with no luck. I had to think Now what did I do? eventually I came back to the valve and the possibility of a misaligned stem. Simple fix though, just remove the steel handle, turn 180 deg. and assemble in reverse order. Mrs Coupe decided this was much more to her liking and purred like a kitten. So guys, when fixing one of these , Don't do what I did, Pay attention to the direction of these ports/passageways. And if you find she's not getting gas a nd you've had this valve apart, just rotate the stem (with the handle off) a very simple solution!
Terry

[Marshall V. Daut]

With proper credit given at the end:
cater-corner/cater-cornered/catawampus/... - The correct spelling of this term is either 'cater-corner' or 'cater-cornered,' though two variant forms, kitty-corner and katty-corner, are often heard in our various regional dialects. Actually the word 'cater' comes from the French 'quatre' and thus the term originally meant 'four-cornered.' But by a process known to language students as 'folk etymology,' the ordinary users of the term thought they detected an analogy to the ordinary domestic feline. Hence 'cater' soon became 'catty' and eventually 'kitty.'
The variations on this phrase are too many to list, but our favorite has long been 'catawampus' or 'cattywampus,' a dialect term heard throughout the South, from the Carolinas to Texas. You'll often hear the expression: 'He walked cattywampus across the street,' and down in Tennessee a college president of mathematics was once heard to say: 'You might call a rhombus a catawampus square.'
Still another sense of 'catawampus' and 'catty wampus' was common in some sections of the antebellum South. It meant goblin, sprite or, sometimes, fearsome beast. Slaveowners were known to warn slaves they thought might be planning to run away that 'catawampus cats' were lurking in wait for them. They sometimes also made fearsome noises in the night, which they claimed were the bloodthirsty roars of the catawampus cats.'" (The "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris, HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988.)

[Synchro909]

Marshal, thanks for the inspiration. We had to have our dog put down a while ago and I want another. Naming was an issue until I read your post. He will be known as "DOGGYWAMPUS"
There is a hardware chain around here who never have a catalogue. Their ads always feature two dogs. They have a "dogalogue"

[Marshall V. Daut]

Believe it or not, I'll betcha nickel that the American Kennel Club has just such a name already on its books. You wouldn't believe the names on the AKC Registry! Years ago I registered my Cairn Terrier puppy with the name Stanley Angus Mactavish, thinking this was sooooo original for a dog. Nope! The name was accepted (as was my check), but he got something like a "XI" behind his name to show that he was the 11th dog with that very same name to be registered! So much for originality...
Doggywampas" it is for your dog.
Marshall
Marshall

[Terry, NJ]

Marshall, I'm not from the south. Well South Jersey, Maybe.... Even though the Mason/Dixon Line places the southern third of NJ in the South, it ain't the South! However, I heard the word (Never saw it written) in a couple of Toolrooms. It was used just as you say, another word for S.N.A.F.U. or F.U.B.A.R. Thanks for the etymology.
Terry

[Big hammer]

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So the handle was 180 out! Been there done that! So much reading now what did I learn?
You put a smile on my face and a chuckle in my belly! Thank you :-)

[captndan]

Dunno about the Southern thing. My Grandparents used it frequently. They were from Nebraska.

[Kevin in NJ]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Marshall, I'm not from the south. Well South Jersey, Maybe.... Even though the Mason/Dixon Line places the southern third of NJ in the South, it ain't the South! However, I heard the word (Never saw it written) in a couple of Toolrooms. It was used just as you say, another word for S.N.A.F.U. or F.U.B.A.R. Thanks for the etymology.
Terry

Being a true south jerseyite I can tell you the Mason-Dixon line does not cross NJ. Yes we looked it up a long time ago.
Mason Dixon line.
Though much of the southern part does act like it is south of the M/D line.

[Terry, NJ]

Not being a "True" Piney or Clamdigger, (Definitely not a Shoebee) I was born and raised in Essex Co (Soprano country). Although I spent more of my life in Toms River and Jackson. All south off 195 and far south of the Raritan Bridges. I met quite a few So Jerseyites who proudly told me about that So Jersey was south of M&D line and that they were born there and YEEEHah! Let's go hunt some "Jersey Pork" or seng. Back to the M&D line, yes it does not go through
NJ. But if it were the line dividing the south from the north (Which it became) but rather the Pennsylvania / Maryland border it would have not meant much. However, since it became a "de Facto" border between the North and south it is fair to extend beyond into other states. Just take a ruler and hold it on the PA/MD line and note where it crosses the Delaware into NJ (Carney's Point) and back out into the Atlantic (Surf City). Or do you want to extend the circular northern border of Delaware across NJ? Then the M & D line will be about 15 or so miles to the north. No you're right , It was never extended into NJ but it did become a geo-political reference line.
Terry

Originally Posted by Kevin in NJ

Being a true south jerseyite I can tell you the Mason-Dixon line does not cross NJ. Yes we looked it up a long time ago.
Mason Dixon line.
Though much of the southern part does act like it is south of the M/D line.