sigogglin
Crooked, leaning, or out of plumb.
Also called si-gogglin, sigodlin, sidegoglin.
Updated September 24, 2026
sigogglin pronunciation
/sigh-GOG-lin/
Meaning
When something sits wrong on its foundation, hangs off-level, or leans like it had too much Saturday night, it's sigogglin. Mountain folks use it for fences, sheds, picture frames, and roads that wander off true. Same family of talk as cattywampus, but with more of a carpenter's eye on whether the thing is square.
How folks use it
- “That old shed leans so sigogglin I'm half scared to park the truck next to it.”
- “You cut that board a little sigogglin, and now the door won't shut.”
Origin and etymology
Appalachian word with roots back to dialect talk from England and Scotland. Many folks hear it as a worn-down form of "side goggling," from older "goggle" meaning to look sideways or off-kilter. The Oxford English Dictionary also ties it to sky, skew, and goggling. Spellings bounce around (si-gogglin, sidegoglin, sigodlin). Exact path is a little murky, but the crooked sense has been rock-solid in the mountains since at least the 1800s.
Frequently asked questions
Is sigogglin the same as cattywampus?
Close enough that people swap them. Sigogglin usually means something looks visibly crooked or out of plumb, like a wall or a fence.