caboose (2009-08-10)

Part of Speech: noun

Pronunciation: [kê-'bus]

Definition: A car attached usually to the rear of a freight-train and used by the crew as living quarters.

Usage: According to author Donald Dale Jackson, the caboose on a train was the "cabin car, crummy, way car, van, ape cage, throne room, hack, buggy, the office, shanty, monkey house, bedbug haven and ever-so-humble home." As well as many synonyms, today's word has metaphorical uses, as well. It can mean "the last" or "hindmost:" "Gwen's the far-flung caboose in any line of kids, always picking flowers and talking to herself as she brings up the rear." But we think that the more homey meaning of caboose ought to be brought to light through usage: "Mum's kitchen was the caboose of our house, the place where weary offspring came to eat, talk and relax from their everyday worries."

Suggested Usage: The definition of today's word is the one most common to us now, but the caboose used to be the ship's galley (another home-away-from-home). It has also referred to an outdoor oven or fireplace, conjuring up images of cooked food eaten in the great outdoors with friends.

Etymology: "Caboose" showed up in English writings in 1769, and its origins show English's German and French parentage. One possibility is that it comes from Middle Low German kabuse, "ship's galley," modern day Dutch "kombuis." The kab- root in German is akin to the "cabane" in Old French, which leads to another possible derivation: "caboose" took its cab- from "cabane" plus Germanic hus "house" via Middle Low German kabhûse "galley." French "cabane," related to Spanish cabaña, comes through Old Provençal cabana from Late Latin cappana, "a small, rough house" and "a living compartment in a ship." It is unrelated to "calaboose" which comes from Spanish calabozo "dungeon" via Acadian French of Louisiana.