Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
"Doughboy" was the name given to American soldiers in (and prior to) the First World War, just as British soldiers were called "Tommy" (or "Tommy Atkins"), although that usage is much older, being attributed at least as far back as 1743.
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Yes, that was a joke, albeit a poor one. I was aware of the meaning of "doughboy" as it relates to WWI. However, I had forgotten that the British soldier was nicknamed "Tommy."
People overseas may not be familiar with the Pillsbury company (although I think that it is a multinational company), so some may not have gotten the joke for that reason, too. And, in some countries, Pillsbury may not use the doughboy as their corporate symbol for one reason or another--I know that AFLAC, a U.S.-based multinational, does not use the AFLAC duck as its symbol in Japan because it offends people there in some way.
This has piqued my interest in the reason for the nickname "doughboy." I'll have to look it up. My initial thought is that that nickname may have been used for the American soldiers because they may have been more prosperous and, therefore, healthier (evidenced by a larger waistline?). But that is just a guess. That
was much the situation in WWII, at least, causing the Brits to complain about the American soldiers that they were "oversexed,
overpaid, and over here."