play cartoon-of-british-nobility
Word History

Why Did Yankee Doodle Call a Feather 'Macaroni'?

What's with his feathered cap?


Editor Serenity Carr breaks down the sartorial origins of the famous song "Yankee Doodle" and why it references macaroni.

Transcript:


Have you ever wondered why in the old Yankee Doodle song he puts a feather in his cap and calls it 'macaroni'? In the 1760s, a group of young well-traveled English men who prided themselves in their appearance, sense of style, and manners founded a club in London. At the time, macaroni was a new and exotic food in England and so the young men named their club the Macaroni Club to demonstrate how stylish its members were. The members themselves were called macaronis. And eventually the word macaroni came to mean the same thing as dandy, or "a man who gives exaggerated attention to personal appearance." Like one who wears feathered caps.

Up next

play fun funner funnest
Fun, Funner, Funnest

 

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

play calendar that says day today
Is It 'Day today' or 'Day-to-day'?

 

What about Day Tomorrow?

play video between you and i or me
I vs. Me

 

'Between you and __'? Simple guidance for a tricky pronoun.

play video who vs whom
Who vs. Whom

 

Good news for those who feel stuffy saying 'whom.'

play mrs malaprop
What is a Malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars