[freedom moose]

OK, please excuse a non USA freeper's ignorance. But this cartoon made me think. So is the"macaroni" in Yankke doodle a reference to something historic and not just a convenient rhyme? Feather in his hat? tar and feathering. what's with the "macarony" spelling?

[Madame Dufarge]

During Pre-Revolutionary America when the song "Yankee Doodle" first became popular, the word macaroni in the line that reads "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni" didn't refer to the pasta. Instead, "Macaroni" was a fancy and overdressed ("dandy") style of Italian clothing widely imitated in England at the time. So by just sticking a feather in his cap and calling himself a "Macaroni", Yankee Doodle was proudly proclaiming himself to be a country bumpkin (an awkward and unsophisticated person), because that was how the English regarded most colonials at that time.

[squarebarb]

I think 'macaroni' was a new and popular food at the time, and so anything 'flash' or new or fashionable was called 'macaroni'.

[socal_parrot]

A macaroni was an eighteenth-century English fop who assumed well-bred European mannerism. Macaroni was a flamboyant form of dress in Italy at the time that involved sticking a large feather from a hat. A macaroni believed that he was stylish despite his outlandish attire. By sticking a feather in his cap, a yankee believed he was fashionable instead of appearing comical.

[lightman]

From a FR post several years ago about songs from wartime (Military Officers Association Of America ^ | April 3, 2004 | David Edward Dayton):

"Everyone knew and sang the tune. Then Richard Shuckburgh wrote a ridicule of the Connecticut militia to it, and his version became the most popular—and
most despised—in the 13 colonies. British troops sang the “Yankey Song” on march, off duty, and outside churches; they literally sang the colonists into
rebellion. Yet this mockery of our armed forces became our first national hit.

On April 19, 1775, Lord Hugh Percy led 900 soldiers from Boston to Concord, Mass., to punish the insurrectionists, seize ammunition stores, and apprehend
rebel leaders. An earlier expedition frantically retreated into their ranks, fleeing colonial sharpshooters. Percy battled his way back to Boston one bloody mile at
a time. Ecstatic with success, the American soldiers “captured” the Shuckburgh ditty and sang it as their anthem of victory. Historian Stuart Murray notes, “The
‘Yankey Song’ soon would have new words and a new name: ‘Yankee Doodle,’ America’s song of triumph.”

[Caipirabob]

OK, please excuse a non USA freeper's ignorance. But this cartoon made me think. So is the"macaroni" in Yankee doodle a reference to something historic and not just a convenient rhyme? Feather in his hat? tar and feathering. what's with the "macarony" spelling?

This is just an excellent question for today, so I did some research. Enjoy!

1) The word macaroni also meant "dandy", or "fop", or "dude" at the time.

Here is an in-depth explanation of "Yankee Doodle" and it's history, better explained than I can sum up in this thread.

The meaning of "Yankee Doodle".