In an askew, diagonal, or awkwardly positioned manner; going sideways or in an unexpected direction.
Adverbial form of 'catawampous,' formed by adding the standard English adverb suffix '-ly.' It maintains the dialectal American character of its root word.
Adding '-ly' to a regional dialect word like 'catawampous' shows how English speakers naturally make adverbs—yet many modern dictionaries don't recognize 'catawampously,' treating it as too informal or regional. It's a word that lives mainly in spoken language.
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