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Monday January 25, 2010

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boodle [BOOD-l]

noun

1. The whole collection, crowd, pack or lot; caboodle.
2. Money given in payment for votes or political influence.
3. A large quantity of something, esp. money.
4. Bribe money; loot; booty; swag.

• The current economy with financial institutions going to the mat and financial managers going to the can has triggered a return to days of yore. As in, for instance, anchoring one's boodle onto one's very own bustle - such as a bag diaper- pinned to the inside of pantyhose. It works, but should you be in, maybe, Bergdorf's, buying something, be aware this produces a difficulty if you have to make change.
  Cindy Adams, "STASH, BUT DON'T TRASH, YOUR CASH", New York Post, Jun 14, 2009
• Mayor Bloomberg is about to bestow more boodle on his favorite demagogue, Lenora Fulani - but this time, at least, someone's trying to block the deal.
  "STOP HELPING THE HATER, MR. MAYOR", New York Post, Sep 9, 2006
• We'll go to the livery stable and I'll make old Duff give me a hack. I've a pocket full of boodle; papa gave me my allowance to-day.
  Gertrude Atherton (1857 - 1948) An American writer. The Californians (1898)

Origin of the Word

Boodle, approximately 1833, derives from American and English slang, either or both based on bundle, or from Dutch boedel "property."