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The meaning of doodle12/8/2023 ![]() ![]() Joining us now from our London bureau with another reason behind the rhyme is librarian Chris Roberts. Yankee Doodle's cool with it.This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. So like, yeah, feather, macaroni, call it what you want, dude. ![]() Not only did "Yankee Doodle" end up a staple of the American patriotic songbook, it gave us one of our most useful words, dude, which originally meant dandy and was formed off of doodle. It had a catchy tune, and they were never out to win any best-dressed awards anyway. It turned out the rustic, ragtag Americans weren’t much insulted by this and started singing the song themselves. That was so something a doodle (meaning fool or simpleton) dandy would do. Thinking himself a fashionable dandy, he stuck a feather in his cap and somehow thought that was macaroni. Yankee Doodle, bumbling bumpkin that he was, tried his best to imitate the latest style, but only embarrassed himself in the attempt. ![]() As a group they were numerous and noticeable enough to get their own nickname. When they returned, they brought back outlandish high-fashion clothes and mannerisms, and a taste for exotic Italian dishes like macaroni. ![]() It had become a rite of passage in the 18th century for young British men of means to spend some time on the European continent doing the Grand Tour, absorbing art, history, and language and becoming all-around cultured and sophisticated. The second bit of context has to do with what was going on back in England at the time. ![]()
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