The “caboodle” is a bit more obscure, but we can assume that the original word here was “boodle” (since “kit and boodle” came earlier) and that the “ca” was added later in the interest of alliteration. “Kit” in this sense of “collection of assorted stuff carried for a job” eventually also gave us a drummer’s “kit” (consisting of various drums, cymbals, etc.) and “kit” in the sense of a collection of parts that are intended to be put together by the buyer. This “kit” then came to mean a small basket used to carry various articles, and from there took on the meaning of the collection of articles carried by a workman or soldier in a knapsack or valise. The root of “kit” was probably the Middle Dutch word “kitte,” meaning a cask or tub made of wooden staves. The “kit” in “kit and caboodle” is fairly straightforward, “kit” being an 18th century English slang term for “outfit” or “collection,” as in a soldier’s “kit bag,” which contained supplies (and often all his worldly possessions). The 19th century zeal for phrases meaning “everything” also produced “lock, stock and barrel,” a refreshingly lucid list of the important bits of a flintlock rifle.
KIT AND CABOODLE ORIGIN PLUS
But as weird as “kit and biling” is, English slang had already produced some admirably odd phrases meaning “all and everything,” including “top and tail” (1509), “prow and poop” (1561), and the Anglo-Indian term “the whole sub-cheese” (from the Hindi “sub,” all, plus “chiz,” things, also possibly the root of “big cheese”). Interestingly, there were several variants of “kit and caboodle” in use at during the same period, including “kit and boodle,” “kit and cargo” and the slightly mysterious “kit and biling” (“biling” being a regional pronunciation of “boiling,” originally “the whole boiling,” meaning an entire batch of soup or stew). “Kit and caboodle” is a slang expression, dating back to the mid-19th century, meaning “everything” or “all of it” (“The whole kit and caboodle of us were then investigated by the FBI to see how many subversives there were among us,” 1969). From now on, please take notes when you encounter the words “It all goes back to….” But the truth is that I find the good ones (like medieval peasants losing their kids in the bathtub while cats fall through the roof) weirdly fascinating and occasionally hilarious. I know I frequently express annoyance at the loopy word-origin stories tour guides and their ilk often propagate.
I wish you had sent along some of the explanations you’ve read. Dear Word Detective: Would you happen to where the term “the whole kit and caboodle” originated? I’ve seen several different answers to this question and I don’t know which one to believe.
0 kommentar(er)
