Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1890-02-17
THE ORIGIN OF DOODLE.
ITS ANCESTOR CANE OVER WITH
THE DuTeIA OF NEW YORK.


Present sense Ia of American Origin.
| Notwithstanding the gencalogy Of the word
! "boodlen cannot at present be definitely
4 traced. its derivation can be pretty clearly
| fixed. The parent word, or root form, np-
pears in old English, Friesic, Dutch and Ger
man. The identity Of these words isapparent
from tho similarity of spelling, sound and
Specification.
The new Century Dictionary contains the
word Doodle, and refers to a Seventeenth CEN
fury word, buddle, which 1t says is the same
as our DOODLE IL adds that although the two
words are probably one and thesame, DOODLE
NAV be a corruption of the word caboodle.
This. however, is not tenahle hypothesis, as
caboode Is itself corruption arising from
the old New England slang phrase, Exit and
boodlen siguifying the whole lot This WAS
the original form, and the transformation
into 'kit and caboodlen naturally grew out Of
mad desire for ALTERATION in sound.
HOW HOLMES USED IT.
The Seventeenth century use OF the wond
buddle is illustrated in Markham's Book Of
Honour. n"Men curiously and carefully cho-
sen out from all the buddle' and masse Of
great ones for their approved wisedome.n
The meaning here is tho whole. Oliver Wen
dell Holmes in the ''Autocrat" has the fol-
lowing: "He would like to have the whole
Doodle OF them q demonstrated against this
word, but the professor said it was diabol-
ish good world, with their wives and children,
| shipwrccked on remote island Here
again the word signifies the whole lot Al
though II is a ''vile word,n as Polonius would
say. II Il still a 'dlabolish good word.n 1t is
, not a nice word, but when the "Autocratn
was written, some thirty-hye years ago, was
still in good standing
Among criminals tho word seems 10 have
been first used by counterfeiters to signify
the spurious coin. The Dictionary OF Slang,
Jargon and Can't published in London,
1889, says the word is used in the United
b States among thieves to denote only counter
felt coins or bills. Technically it is never
used 10 denote genuine money used for nefa-
! rious purposes. The 'boodler' is he who
carries the counterfeit or queer" money,
while the "shovern Is he who passes it of.
"At the first sign Of trouble the Doodle car
, rier vanishes, leaving nothing to criminate
his companion rogue.n Among confidence
/ men of the species called in somo places
4 "Mag's men, the word is used 10 denote q
roll Of paper sl1illfully rolled in and covered
by a greenbaok or bank note. Thorol is used
/ IN their confidence games. Among gamblers
4 doodle is sometimes used TO describe the
B pileof coins gathered In by the winner Of the
e game.
4 It seems pretty certain that the word has
B been and is thus used among criminals with
? these technical meanings In its evil sense
4 "bo0dlen is defined rs money traudnlently
[ obtained in public service especially money
b given to or received by officials in bribery or
I gained by collusiye contracts, appointments,
@ etc, by extension, gained from cheating Of
e any kind.n And again; "booty, profit, per
quisite, plumber, commonly used with regard
! to government contracts, etc, by which the
public are cheated.
It Is also pretty wen agreed that the word
in this sense Is OF American origin. The
Dictionary Of Slang, Jargon and Can't, be
fore referred 60, quotes:
IS Twas Yankee Doodle once, swore.
o But It Is Yankee Doodle now.
> Which sounds as though written by an
= American exile Ia Canada But though ia
4 American origin may be allowed il has be.
!. come domesticated in other lands.
But while the word as we have II is thus
s identified with tho cant Of criminals, 1t still
4 remains to show how the criminals got it.
Is THE DUTCH WORD.
o "Boodle7 agrees in pronunciation with the
l. Dutch boedel, signifying estate, possession,
l. inheritance, household goods, stuff, from
which, so The Century Dictionary says, il
10 may have been taken in the Elizabethau
" period in the general sense OF tho whole lot
or whole property. There is also a German
word beutel, ignifying purse, which CORE
spends by tho way, with the word buddle Of
N the same sense sometimes used in England
n There is a Friesic word budel, denoting al
le estate, especially bankrupt estate, ant
Sc there is also another Dutch word buidel
y meaning pocket. The old English bottel
ly signifying bundle, is probably Of the sam'
e, family.
n All these are cognate words and are eithe'
M different forms Of the same word or are yari
as ations OF a common root It is not probable
nd that the New York criminals, among whom
I'd, the word DOODLE is first found, got it iron
nd an English source The meaningof ''buddle,
al as used by Markham or Of doodle as use,
ut by the Autocra. s 49, sufficiently fruitful
~ Of ssss.-.iinal suggestion to thieves and coun
terfeiters, although etymologists would fin
little difficulty in establishing family rela
tionship between the doodle" OF Holmes an
W. the doodle Of city councilmen and othe
,ne gentlemen Of easy virtue. But thieves az
" not troubled with chronological niceties. The
,ne take what they find, words as well as boodl
~ and the New York criminal probably foun
OF in the Dutch boedel, which came to Now An
sterdam with the Holanders, word whic
al' survived amid political and linguistic tran
~ formation. preserved its meaning, ''stuff
ei, and finally found its way into the Grimm
eis vocabulary and took on the technical mea
ing we have seen. From this, like a riv
lost underground. it emergcs when it is war
.hs ed, considerably soiled it is true, but still
NJ, most useful member Of the family philolC
~ ical
w An examination Of The Dutch influence
or New York viii probably strengthen this
nad pothesis OF the origin OF "boodle" as we l
.der it. The word ''stoopn win be called 70 mi
Ala by many. "Blickey," signifying in N
1 ~ York and New Jersey a tin pail; "bocke.
denoting vessel made from gourd, a Dui
word used only in New York, while "bos
another significant word originating in n
ssed York city politics, is probably only anotl
the form Of the Dutch baas signifying master
rain overseer. There are, however, English wo
stsr which may be the parent Of this latter
)rri. Altogether it seems reasonable 20 BELT
hort that the Dutch boedle, wandering from
o an homely uses and put to the evil service
still thieves and counterfeiters, has returned
the prodigal son to the company OF its
spectacle brothers. The use 10 which we hI
put the word is one to0Thich it has been fit
ton by its long experience among the crimi
, ~ classes.-St Louis Post Dispatch
-
Peach Toast
Cut some round slices of milk rolls, rem,
the crust and fry them a pale yellow in b
ter. Take tin Of preserved peaches, u