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The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

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Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#11

Post by pavel_lishin »

sidlls wrote: post #4

"In a society that emphasized individuality, it is not hard to imagine that they became folk heroes of a kind—and that many of the people who laughed at them felt a tug of longing for the freedom with which they lived." This is similar to the canard that "your bully is just jealous of your ." It's codswallop: more like to be the normal reaction to a trend taken "too far," as it were, and something like the backlash o…

I agree with you that it's codswallop, but I wholly disagree with you that people into the grunge, goth, emo, hipster, etc., aesthetic are absurdly lacking introspection and awareness by latching onto a played out trend.

Yes, people mocked them, but they were perfectly happy demonstrating that they were a member of some given group - or maybe just happily enjoying some given aesthetic.

Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#13

Post by moshmosh »

elliekelly wrote: post #3

> And with the girls be handy I'd never really given much thought to what this line meant but knowing the context it's pretty gross.

I always just took it as "good with", as in "handy with a chainsaw". Though it's old enough that it could mean almost anything—I don't know how far back the "good with" meaning of "handy" goes.

Hold on, let's see what Webster's 1913 says...

2. Skillful in using the hand; dexterous; ready; adroit. "Each is handy in his way." Dryden.

OK, that one seems a bit... vulgar, at worst, and is the sense I took it in, basically.

What I find very funny is sense 4:

4. (Naut.) Easily managed; obedient to the helm; -- said of a vessel.

Might the line have a double-meaning? The obvious one of "knows how to please a woman", but also a near-opposite second reading of "women walk all over him"? Kinda fits with the rest of the song, which reminds me a lot of The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)".

Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#14

Post by alisonkisk »

moshmosh wrote: post #13
elliekelly wrote: post #3

> And with the girls be handy I'd never really given much thought to what this line meant but knowing the context it's pretty gross.

I always just took it as "good with", as in "handy with a chainsaw". Though it's old enough that it could mean almost anything—I don't know how far back the "good with" meaning of "handy" goes. Hold on, let's see what Webster's 1913 says... 2. Skillful in using the hand; dexterous; ready; adroit. "Each is handy in his way." Dryden. OK, that one seems a bit... vulgar, at worst, and is the sense I took it in, basically…

No, because he's handy "with" a lady, not "for" a lady.

Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#15

Post by EvanAnderson »

elliekelly wrote: post #3

> And with the girls be handy I'd never really given much thought to what this line meant but knowing the context it's pretty gross.

The person quoted in this article[1] from NPR describes the stanzas "Mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy" as referring to dancing properly with a lady.

Given the era it comes from I can't imagine that there's a sexualized meaning to the words. There was certainly bawdy stuff back then, but from what I've read of the era I don't think it was casually thrown around like it is in today's (US) culture.

[1] https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=497026...

Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#16

Post by mywittyname »

kemayo wrote: post #2

I remember seeing the analogy made that "stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni" could be translated into a modern context as "wrote a G on his belt and called it Gucci".

Some dumb American came around

driving an abomination.

Clipped a tie onto his shirt

and called it sophistication.

Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#18

Post by SamBam »

khazhoux wrote: post #6
kemayo wrote: post #2

I remember seeing the analogy made that "stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni" could be translated into a modern context as "wrote a G on his belt and called it Gucci".

Oh, interesting! I'd seen the "macaroni" articles before, but until your comment I had not realized the song is making fun of the character's low-effort mimicry.

It was not just the unsophisticated mimicry part, but the fact that he was trying to mimic something that was already being widely ridiculed.

I'm not sure what the modern analogy would be, because I'm not sure what fashion is widely ridiculed. "Drew a fake tattoo with a ballpoint pen and called himself 90's emo goth kid."

Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#19

Post by dundercoder »

mywittyname wrote: post #16
kemayo wrote: post #2

I remember seeing the analogy made that "stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni" could be translated into a modern context as "wrote a G on his belt and called it Gucci".

Some dumb American came around driving an abomination. Clipped a tie onto his shirt and called it sophistication.

I like it.

Re: The Macaroni in ‘Yankee Doodle’

#20

Post by moshmosh »

alisonkisk wrote: post #14
moshmosh wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always just took it as "good with", as in "handy with a chainsaw". Though it's old enough that it could mean almost anything—I don't know how far back the "good with" meaning of "handy" goes. Hold on, let's see what Webster's 1913 says... 2. Skillful in using the hand; dexterous; ready; adroit. "Each is handy in his way." Dryden. OK, that one seems a bit... vulgar, at worst, and is the sense I took it in, basically…

No, because he's handy "with" a lady, not "for" a lady.

"With", as in "among or in the company of", "the girls".

[EDIT] yeah, in context it probably just means handling your partner well while dancing as the surface reading, with a possibly-intended somewhat-vulgar "hur hur hur, if you know what I mean" subtext.

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