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 video title words of the year 1066
Words of the Year: 1066

 

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

play video affect vs effect
Affect vs. Effect

 

Here's the lowdown on what may be the most confusing pair of words in the English language.

play merriam-webster eggcorns title page
What Is an Eggcorn?

 

And how did it get that name?

play videos pictures in the dictionary
Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

play video lay vs lie
Lay vs. Lie

 

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

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

 

What about Day Tomorrow?