MDMD2: Fops, Macaronis, or Lunarians

[Dave Monroe]

"A small, noisy party of Fops, Macaronis, or
Lunarians,-- it is difficult to distinguish which,--
has been working its way up the street and into
Ear-shot." (M&D, Ch. 3, p. 21)

Yankee Doodle went to town
Riding on a pony
Stuck a feather in his cap
And called it ...

mac·a·ro·ni 
"ma-k&-'rO-nE
noun
Italian maccheroni, plural of maccherone, from Italian
dialect maccarone dumpling, macaroni
1599
1 : pasta made from semolina and shaped in the form of
slender tubes
2 plural macaronis or macaronies a : a member of a
class of traveled young Englishmen of the late 18th
and early 19th centuries who affected foreign ways b :
an affected young man : FOP

fop
'fäp
noun
Middle English; akin to Middle English fobben to
deceive, Middle High German voppen
15th century
1 obsolete : a foolish or silly person
2 : a man who is devoted to or vain about his
appearance or dress : COXCOMB, DANDY

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

But my handy Merriam-Webtser Dictionary fails me here
on "Lunarians," so ...

Lunarians
21; those who subscribed to the practicability of
using the positions of the stars along the moon's path
to determine longitude; 437; 728

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/alpha/l.html

Undere "Lunar" in the 1913 Webster's Dictionary ...

"Lunar observation, an observation of a lunar distance
by means of a sextant or circle, with the altitudes of
the bodies, and the time, for the purpose of computing
the longitude. --Lunar tables. (a) (Astron.) Tables of
the moon's motions, arranged for computing the moon's
true place at any time past or future. (b)
(Navigation) Tables for correcting an observed lunar
distance on account of refraction and parallax."

"Lunarian" here, however, is simply "An inhabitant of
the moon" ...

http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.page.sh?PAGE=875

But do see, e.g. ...

Sobel, Dava.  Longitude: The True Story of a
   Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific
   Problem of His Time.  New York: Walker, 1995.

Though I haven't noticed "Lunarian" in any of the
longitude lit'rachure I've perused so far, so ...

>From Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary (1911) ...

LUNARIAN, n. An inhabitant of the moon, as
distinguished from Lunatic, one whom the moon
inhabits.  The Lunarians have been described by
Lucian, Locke and other observers, but without much
agreement. For example, Bragellos avers their
anatomical identity with Man, but Professor Newcomb
says they are more like the hill tribes of Vermont.

http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/l.html

But note as well ...

EXECUTIVE, n. An officer of the Government, whose duty
it is to enforce the wishes of the legislative power
until such time as the judicial department shall be
pleased to pronounce them invalid and of no effect.
Following is an extract from an old book entitled, The
Lunarian Astonished -- Pfeiffer & Co., Boston, 1803: 

LUNARIAN: Then when your Congress has passed a law it
goes directly to the Supreme Court in order that it
may at once be known whether it is constitutional?
TERRESTRIAN: O no; it does not require the approval of
the Supreme Court until having perhaps been enforced
for many years somebody objects to its operation
against himself--I mean his client.  The President, if
he approves it, begins to execute it at once.
LUNARIAN: Ah, the executive power is a part of the
legislative.  Do your policemen also have to approve
the local ordinances that they enforce?
TERRESTRIAN: Not yet -- at least not in their
character of constables.  Generally speaking, though,
all laws require the approval of those whom they are
intended to restrain.
LUNARIAN: I see.  The death warrant is not valid until
signed by the murderer.
TERRESTRIAN: My friend, you put it too strongly; we
are not so consistent.
LUNARIAN: But this system of maintaining an expensive
judicial machinery to pass upon the validity of laws
only after they have long been executed, and then only
when brought before the court by some private
person--does it not cause great confusion?
TERRESTRIAN: It does.
LUNARIAN: Why then should not your laws, previously to
being executed, be validated, not by the signature of
your President, but by that of the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court?
TERRESTRIAN: There is no precedent for any such
course.
LUNARIAN: Precedent.  What is that?
TERRESTRIAN: It has been defined by five hundred
lawyers in three volumes each.  So how can any one
know?

http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/e.html

Lunarians = The New York Science Fiction Society ...

http://www.lunacon.org/

Lunarians = Moon Children, those born under the sign
of Cancer (June 21st - July 22nd), e.g., Ambrose
Bierce (June 24, 1842), though I'm hardly up on
astrology enough to adjudicate amongst online info
here, so ...

But I do believe there's some homosexual connotation
involved here as well.  Note the L.E.D. and the
"Lunarians" Algernon and Derek @ pp. 22-3.  "'Why, you
beastly little--'"  There are precedents in those
Pynchonian texts, of course, but ...

Must ... get ... OED ...



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