![]() The OED‘s first citation for the final version is from the Boston Globe in 1888: “If any ‘railroad lobbyist’ cast reflections on his character he would wipe out the whole kit and caboodle of them.”īuy our books at a local store,, or Barnes&. the whole kit.”įrom 1785 into the late 1800s, “kit” appeared in such slang phrases as “the whole kit,” “the whole kit and boiling,” “the whole kit and cargo,” “the whole kit and boodle,” and finally the expression that has survived, “the whole kit and caboodle.” ![]() The word “kit,” the OED says, has been used since the late 18th century to mean “a number of things or persons viewed as a whole a set, lot, collection esp. ![]() Two early “kit”-less versions of the expression were “the whole boodle” and “the whole caboodle.” Here are the Oxford English Dictionary‘s first citations for these older versions:įrom The Down-Easters, an 1833 novel by John Neal: “I know a feller ‘twould whip the whool boodle of ’em.”Īnd from the Ohio State Journal (1848): “The whole caboodle will act upon the recommendation of the Ohio Sun.” The slang dictionary suggests that “caboodle” may be a combination of the prefix “ ker” (which I’ve written about before on the blog) plus the older “boodle,” which meant “a crowd or collection of people or things.” Kaboodle is another slang word for possessions, and it also exists in the alternative spelling of Caboodle with the letter. Typically, the kit refers to possessions. Q: Where does “kit and caboodle” come from? Is it from World War I? What is a “caboodle”?Ī: The expression, usually appearing as “the whole kit and caboodle,” originated in 19th-century America – well before World War I, according to Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang.Ĭassell’s defines the phrase as “the lot, everything there is.” It says “caboodle” is also from the 19th century and means “a large mixed-up collection of objects or people.” The whole kit and Kaboodle refers to a suggestion that someone is overdoing their preparation, or it could be a reference to get someone to pack more items.
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