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Cabooses or Cabeese?

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Cabooses or Cabeese?
Posted by Guy Papillon on Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:07 PM

I am a French speaking Canadian so English is my second language. I know that more than one goose are geese. What about more than one caboose? Cabooses or cabeese? I am seeing both on the web. What is the correct word?

Guy

Modeling CNR in the 50's

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Posted by tankertoad70 on Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:13 PM

I have always heard multiple cabooses referred to, as you can see, cabooses.Cowboy

Don in 'Orygun' City
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Posted by garya on Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:15 PM

Guy Papillon

I am a French speaking Canadian so English is my second language. I know that more than one goose are geese. What about more than one caboose? Cabooses or cabeese? I am seeing both on the web. What is the correct word?

 

Caboose is of indeterminate etymology, but the normal way of forming a plural in English is by adding an -s or -es, so cabooses is correct.  I always thought cabeese was a humorous formation , based on jokey parallel to geese.

Gary

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Posted by RR_Mel on Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:21 PM

Google Search for Cabooses or Cabeese?
 
Cabooses, not cabeese. ... The word caboose is a “count noun” and takes a normal count plural. For example: “To streamline operations, the railroads would like to permanently uncouple these little lookout cars from freight trains. 'Cabooses are dead weight,' says a vice president of a Western railroad.
 
 
 
Mel
 
 
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:26 PM

Cabooses is probably correct, but cabeese works fine here and you will see it often.  Personally, I use cabeese.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by hon30critter on Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:43 PM

MisterBeasley
Cabooses is probably correct, but cabeese works fine here and you will see it often.  Personally, I use cabeese.

Maybe if we use 'cabeese' often enough it will be added to Webster's dictionary!Smile, Wink & GrinLaughLaugh

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, March 2, 2019 6:48 PM

It is Cabooses.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

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Posted by BRAKIE on Saturday, March 2, 2019 8:01 PM

In real life railroading there is no  cabooses or cabeeses.

A example..

It is simply put caboose 4412 and 4490 on caboose S2 and pull 4477,4401 and 4454 from outbound ready and place them on Eastbound 197 ED14,Eastbound X2215, ED15 and Westbound 98 WD21 in that order..Understood?

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Posted by "JaBear" on Sunday, March 3, 2019 1:18 AM

Guards Van by Bear, on Flickr

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Posted by Harrison on Sunday, March 3, 2019 7:35 AM

Whatever you want to say, we will know what you mean.

Harrison

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Posted by DSchmitt on Sunday, March 3, 2019 8:27 AM

Cabin Cars

Vans

Crew Cars

Crummies

Hacks

I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.

I don't have a leg to stand on.

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Posted by tatans on Sunday, March 3, 2019 10:28 AM

Good luck Guy, trying to make any sense out of the english language, remember the word ''GHOTI" is pronounced fish, look it up.

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Posted by NittanyLion on Sunday, March 3, 2019 10:51 AM

tatans

Good luck Guy, trying to make any sense out of the english language, remember the word ''GHOTI" is pronounced fish, look it up.

 

But only if you break three rules of English. Gh is only F if proceeded by au or ou. Ti is "tee" unless followed by a vowel. The o as an I seems to be ambiguous but may require a w. Gh to start a word is always a hard G (ghost). 

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Posted by garya on Sunday, March 3, 2019 11:15 AM

NittanyLion

 

 
tatans

Good luck Guy, trying to make any sense out of the english language, remember the word ''GHOTI" is pronounced fish, look it up.

 

 

 

But only if you break three rules of English. Gh is only F if proceeded by au or ou. Ti is "tee" unless followed by a vowel. The o as an I seems to be ambiguous but may require a w. Gh to start a word is always a hard G (ghost). 

 

Don't ruin his fun

Gary

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Posted by BroadwayLion on Sunday, March 3, 2019 11:24 AM

Little Johnny was the best football player the school had seen in fifteen years. But the English teacher was demanding that he drop out because his grades were so poor. The coach pleaded with the teacher.

 

"Well, if he can spell one word right, I'll give him another chance.'

 

Johnny, spell coffee.

 

"K, no wait.... C a, no Cof......f...e..........um er E.

 

And the coach says awe, come on give him another chance.

 

 

ROARING

 

 

KAPHY

The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.

Here there be cats.                                LIONS with CAMERAS

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Posted by dknelson on Sunday, March 3, 2019 11:47 AM

Shades of the old Victor Borge story that since citizens of Portugal are Portuguese, then any one citizen is a Portugoose.  Except for children who are Portugoslings.  He'd then shrug and say "it's your language."

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Posted by Lone Wolf and Santa Fe on Sunday, March 3, 2019 1:49 PM

Image result for i hate you meeces to pieces

One is a mouse. More than one is mice. There is no such word as cabeeses.

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Posted by davidmurray on Sunday, March 3, 2019 2:39 PM

Why not go all out and use England railroad terms.  The rear brakeman rides in the Van.  Two or more are Vans.

Problem solved.

Dave

 

David Murray from Oshawa, Ontario Canada
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Posted by mvlandsw on Sunday, March 3, 2019 4:12 PM
Cabooze
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Posted by richhotrain on Sunday, March 3, 2019 4:29 PM

cabeeses!

Alton Junction

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Posted by E-L man tom on Monday, March 4, 2019 3:30 PM

Cabooses!

Tom Modeling the free-lanced Toledo Erie Central switching layout.
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Posted by rrinker on Monday, March 4, 2019 3:46 PM

Cabeese is a humorous term, the correct word is cabooses. While many Goose are Geese, many Moose are not Meese, it's mooses. Goose is the odd word out. And the old cartoon shown above, that's WAY out there. "meeses" would be like a double plural. The correct word, of course, is mice, but then it wouldn't rhyme with "pieces". Good old Pixie and Dixie (the meeces) and Mr. Jinks, the cat.

Oh how I miss studying German. It's almost 100% according to the rules, no hundreds of little exceptions like English. But that's because English is made up of words taken from many other languages. Alles in Ordnung.

                                        --Randy


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Posted by OT Dean on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 12:27 AM

hon30critter

 

 
MisterBeasley
Cabooses is probably correct, but cabeese works fine here and you will see it often.  Personally, I use cabeese.

 

Maybe if we use 'cabeese' often enough it will be added to Webster's dictionary!Smile, Wink & GrinLaughLaugh

Dave

 

I usually call a gaggle of cabooses "cabeese," as a slang term.  I think it's particularly appropriate in my case because my Dream Railroad (I'm somewhat reconciled to the fact that I'll never again have a model railroad, just bits and pieces) has only bobbers on the roster.  (If it was good enough for the B&O all those years, it's good enough for my proposed short line!)

Come to think of it, I doubt if "bobber" is in the dictionary, either.

Deano

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Posted by OT Dean on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 12:30 AM

DSchmitt

Cabin Cars

Vans

Crew Cars

Crummies

Hacks

 

Also:

Brain box

Louse cage

...and several unprintables.

Deano

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Posted by riogrande5761 on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 5:51 AM

The MR forums truly is a coffee clutch.  Clown

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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 8:35 AM

It would be an interesting - though time consuming - project to try to work back who first used the term "cabeese". It definetely started as a joke or play on words in the railfan / model railroad community. I don't think the first person to write it meant it to be a 'real' word, or one that would continue to be used. I started reading Model Railroader in 1971, and I don't recall seeing 'cabeese' in print until many years later, maybe 1980's.

If I had to make an educated guess on who used it first, I would guess John Armstrong, perhaps in an article describing one of his track plans. His plans generally included several puns or plays-on-words for place names, like "Ott Dam".

Stix
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Posted by Coquihala and Rock Creek on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 11:25 AM
Or how about Vans.

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Posted by BRAKIE on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 12:41 PM

wjstix
It definetely started as a joke or play on words in the railfan / model railroad community.

Yes,just like "lashup".. In my 9 1/2 years as a brakeman it was always locomotive consist never "lashup". 

Larry

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Summerset Ry.


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Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 1:04 PM

BRAKIE

 

 
wjstix
It definetely started as a joke or play on words in the railfan / model railroad community.

 

Yes,just like "lashup".. In my 9 1/2 years as a brakeman it was always locomotive consist never "lashup". 

 

By first "lash up" was with a PCM, by BLI, F3 HO A/B NYC set. What is that? And NYC never had a Mars light in the A unit. Realy strange.

Cabeese is another, lol.

My ex use to say, "you guys look cute playing with your toys".

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

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Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 1:19 PM

richg1998
And NYC never had a Mars light in the A unit. Realy strange.

As soon as somebody says never along comes someone to the contrary —

 NYC_4506 by Edmund, on Flickr

I don't know off hand if all eight of the C Liners had mars lights. They didn't keep them very long if they did. Not an F3 obviously, but an A unit just the same Wink

Cheers, Ed

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