kaboodle

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Tue May 19 17:44:51 UTC 2009


At 1:28 PM -0400 5/19/09, George Thompson wrote:
>I've checked the ADS-L archives, and it would appear that I never
>posted these citations here; they were published as a brief note in
>American Speech.  [73:4 (Winter, 1998):442]
>
>1822:   . . . Severance told him that he was going to Canada, and
>should bring back with him a boodle, (a cant term for a bundle of
>counterfeit bills).
>Commercial Advertiser, March 15, 1822, p. 2, col. 3
>
>1823:   . . . upon the receipt of a boodle or bootle, as a package
>of counterfeit money is termed.
>Inside Out; or, An Interior View of the New-York State Prison. . . .
>By One Who Knows.  [W. A. Coffey]  p. 108
>
>1823:   The mayor asked witness if Ann took out with her when
>walking the bootle (slang word for a bundle of forged notes.)
>New-York Statesman, June 21, 1823, p. 2, col. 4
>
>1828:   High Constable Hays lately received information that a
>boodle of counterfeit notes and coin was to be opened to the
>customers at the house of George Marriner, corner of Rutgers and
>Lombardy-streets.  [He raids the joint]  His house has long been
>known as head quarters for the dealers in counterfeit bills and
>coin, and stolen goods.
>Commercial Advertiser, May 30, 1828, p. 2, col. 5, from NYDA
>
>1832:   A counterfeit five dollar bill, of the Fulton Bank. . . .
>It seems that a "boodle," as the slang term is, was opened of these
>Bills -- and this accounts for the sudden appearance of so much
>counterfeit money.  [9 people are arrested.]
>New-York Evening Post, March 20, 1832, p. 2, col. 7
>
>Notice that several of these passages speak of a "boodle" being
>"opened".  This is explained in a passage earlier than any of the
>ones above, though it doesn't use the word "boodle".
>1820:   [David Fowler goes to Canada for counterfeit money, brings
>it back] in hard little packages, about three inches thick.
>New-York Evening Post, August 23, 1820, p. 2, cols. 4-5
>
>It seems that "the Dutch "boedel," meaning estate, possessions, or
>property" may in NY Dutch have come to mean something like "package"
>(or "bundle" -- is a connection possible?)
>

AHD tracks "bundle" to a different Dutch source, Middle Dutch
_bondel_, as opposed to Middle Dutch _bo:del_ which gave rise to
"boedel".  The former is linked to PIE bhendh-, the latter to PIE
bheu at -.  Of course there could have been semantic influence from the
former to the latter in English or, for all I know, Dutch.

LH, wondering if an illegitimate baby would count as a boodle of joy...

>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>Date: Monday, May 18, 2009 9:09 pm
>Subject: Re: kaboodle
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>>  At 5:52 PM -0700 5/18/09, Dave Wilton wrote:
>>  >The usual spelling is "caboodle." It's a variant of "boodle," which
>>  >is from the Dutch "boedel," meaning estate, possessions, or
>>  >property. It was more common in the 19th century, when you found
>>  >phrases like "the whole boodle" or "the whole caboodle."
>>
>>  Interesting.  The OED does have it as "the whole caboodle" (from
>>  Ohio, in 1848, with an 1873 cite from Bret Harte), but only
>>  vouchsafes the etymology as "supposed to be a corruption of the
>>  phrase _kit and boodle_, but under _boodle_ the sense that "suggests
>>  Du. _boedel_ 'estate, possession, inheritance, stock" is glossed as
>>  'counterfeit money' and acknowledged to be "not so easy to connect
>>  with sense 1", which is the relevant one for _kit and (ca)boodle_
>>  ('crowd, pack, lot').  HDAS does give essentially the story Dave
>>  cites, i.e. Du. _boedel_ > _boodle_ > _caboodle_.  (There's a nice
>>  "whole kerboodle" under the HDAS entry for the last, also from Bret
>>  Harte.)
>>
>>  LH
>>
>>  >
>>  >-----Original Message-----1
>>  >From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>>  >Behalf Of Mark Mandel
>>  >Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 5:38 PM
>>  >To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>  >Subject: kaboodle
>>  >
>>  >We have it only in the idiom "(the whole) kit and kaboodle", but does
>>  >anyone know its origin?
>  > >
>>  >--
>>  >Mark Mandel
>>  >
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