Boodle is a slang term for money derived from the Dutch word 'boedel' meaning property or estate. ^[1][2] Afrikaans inherited the word and its meaning from the Dutch, which probably accounts for its widespread use for money amongst English-speaking South Africans.

In the United States, particularly in the 19th century, "boodle jails" were jails where, on payment of a small fee to an officer, tramps or hobos could take up residence without being an actual prisoner.^[3] In the late-19th century, the Welsh tramp-poet W. H. Davies took advantage of such an arrangement to spend the winter in a number of boodle jails in Michigan. Here Davies could enjoy the comforts of "card-playing, singing, smoking, reading, relating experiences and occasionally taking exercise or going out for a walk."^[4]