It used to be that cabooses ruled the end of every train, and would often be painted up in special and/or locomotive-matching paint schemes, and then there were all of those safety-slogan cabooses on Chessie System and Union Pacific, among others. Nowadays, I think the term “crummy” could be applied to almost all of them, 'cuz that’s the way they all look! I don’t think I’ve seen a caboose in quite a while (other than a display/museum piece) that really looked nice. Well, except for WSOR’s…
The first usage in print of “caboose” in its railroad sense was in 1861, at which time it must already have been in circulation among American railroadmen. The railroad historian David L. Joslyn, a retired Southern Pacific draftsman, connected “caboose” to an older, nautical usage (1747) derived from Low German kabhuse, a “wooden cabin” on a ship’s deck, giving the Middle Dutch word kabuis, the compartment on a ship’s deck in which cooking is done. This usage is now rare, as the galley moved belowdecks, whereas the Dutch word transformed into kombuis.
The first cabooses, not unlike the nautical originals, were wooden shanties built on flatcars, as early as the 1830s.
There is some disagreement on what constitutes the proper plural form of the word “caboose”. Similar words, like goose (pluralized as “geese”), and moose (pluralized as “moose”, no change) point to the reason for the difficulty in coming to a solid consensus.
The most common pluralization of caboose is “cabooses”, with many arguing that this is incorrect, and (as with the word moose), it should stay the same in plural form.
A less-seriously used pluralization of the word is “cabeese” (following the pluralization rule for the word goose, which is “geese”). This particular form is almost universally used in an attempt at humor (as, presumably, is “cabice”).
Also, check these:
Well now, that is a first. A hoghead that actually understands who the boss is. LOL…
Virlon
…so how many bonus points do I get?