The song “Yankee Doodle”
was originally a marching song of the British Army
during the Revolutionary War.
The original title and lyric were “Yankee Noodle.“
“Yankee Noodle went to town
A-ridin’ on his pony,
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it macaroni.”
The Americans cheerfully and defiantly took up the song
and flung it back into the face of the Brits,
changing the lyric from the limp “noodle”
to the self-created “doodle.”
Everyone soon forgot the British version but
the now-inexplicable “macaroni” line remained.
AM I MAKING THIS UP?