Since it is JULY 4TH, INDEPENDENCE DAY...what does Yankee DOODLE mean anyway?

If you're an American like me, you will remember the song "Yankee-Doodle"...

Yankee-Doodle went to town
riding on a pony.
Stuck a feather in his hat
and called it Macaroni.

You probably also remember the childish version we would sing as kids (!)...Either way, this is something ingrained in every American. I know the song...my Portuguese husband does NOT know the song. It is part of American culture...it is part of us, whether or not we even care or want it to be!

I find these cultural impressions fascinating and interesting!

So back to the topic at hand: What does DOODLE mean? (And it didn't mean to draw....)

From the early seventeenth century, it came to English through Low German and meant "to play music badly," and also it meant a person who was unsophisticated, a simpleton or even a fool. 

So what does the song mean?

So the song is about a Yankee (obviously, an American) sticking a feather in his hat and thinking he is automatically a "Macaroni," or gentleman, at the time in England, who dressed effeminately and belonged to an exclusive club called the Macaroni Club.  (seriously!)  They wore wigs, two watches and only dressed in high fashion, scoffing at their American counterparts who were not as "sophisticated" as them.  Us Americans figured by simply wearing a feather in our hat we would be granted "Macaroni" status!  Well, we were wrong...as this song makes fun of us a bit, but who cares...!  I love being American and wouldn't trade it for any other nationality in the world...ever!

Enjoy the fireworks and Happy Independence Day!!!