Yankee Doodle

American  

[dood-l] / ˈdud l /

noun

1. (italics) a song with a melody of apparent British origin, popular with American troops during the Revolutionary War.

2. a Yankee.

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Yankee Doodle British  

noun

1. an American song, popularly regarded as a characteristically national melody

2. another name for Yankee

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“Yankee Doodle” Cultural  

1. A popular American song, dating from the eighteenth century. The early settlers of New York were Dutch, and the Dutch name for Johnny is Janke, pronounced “Yankee.” This is the most likely origin of the term Yankee. Doodle meant “simpleton” in seventeenth-century English. First sung during the American Revolutionary War by the British troops to poke fun at the strange ways of the Americans (Yankees), the song was soon adopted by American troops themselves. Since then, the song has been considered an expression of American patriotism. The popular version of the first stanza is:

   Yankee Doodle came to town

   Riding on a pony;

   He stuck a feather in his hat

   And called it macaroni.

   Yankee Doodle, keep it up,

   Yankee Doodle dandy;

   Mind the music and the step,

   And with the girls be handy.

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Example Sentences

From the origins of “Yankee Doodle” to the first rock ’n’ roll single to hit No. 1—or identifying presidential nicknames and recalling movie lines—there’s much to know about culture in America.

From The Wall Street Journal

And before I could say Yankee Doodle, I was swept onto the marble dance floor and forced to divide my time among four of the South’s clumsiest, rock-footed mutineers.

From Literature

Is Chalamet going to be the latest actor to win an Oscar for playing a music legend, a not-always-proud tradition that goes back to James Cagney’s energetic portrayal of entertainer George M. Cohan in the 1942 film “Yankee Doodle Dandy”? Maybe.

From Los Angeles Times

Jimmy Cagney’s old schmaltz vehicle "Yankee Doodle Dandy" looks restrained by comparison.

From Salon

Yankee Doodle went to town, riding on a pony...

From Literature