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Catawampus (kat-uh-wom-puhs) Adjective askew; awry More about Catawampus First recorded in 1830–40 for an earlier sense of “utterly,” (apparently the adverb catawampusly was used before the adjective). Thought to be formed from cata-, “diagonally,” (see cater-cornered) + wampus, perhaps akin to wampish. Examples of Catawampus The construction workers left the beam in a catawampus position, causing concern about the building’s stability. The painting hung in a catawampus way, making it look out of place on the otherwise neat wall. Tweak (tweak) Verb to make a minor adjustment to More about Tweak First recorded in 1595–1605; akin to twitch.  Examples of Tweak After reviewing the report, I decided to tweak the conclusion to make it clearer. The software engineer tweaked the program’s code to improve its speed. Mendacious (men-dey-shuhs) Adjective telling lies, especially habitually; dishonest; lying; untruthful More about Mendacious First used between 1610–20; From Latin mendāci-, (see me