Nobody Knows What The “Mac” In Mac & Cheese Stands For & Twitter Is Freaking Out

Where were you when you realized that “mac” could be an acronym for “Macaroni And Cheese” in addition to being short for just “macaroni”? Was it right now? Do you need to lie down for a second?

Twitter is properly shooketh after a few people realized that “mac and cheese” could technically mean “macaroni and cheese and cheese.” Redundant? I mean, yeah. But also a little bit mind-blowing? I mean...yeah. Self-proclaimed Twitter linguists were quick to point out that “mac” in the context of “mac and cheese” is usually just an abbreviation for “macaroni.” To which many responded, “Yeah okay but could you just, like, let us have this one please?”

Actress and YouTuber Meg DeAngelis was the first to recently tweet about what will henceforth be known as The Mac Condondrum. Shortly afterward, there was a second tweeter whose question about whether “mac” could stand for “macaroni and cheese” has since been retweeted over 55,000 times.

While I am Team Mac As An Acronym in my heart, I am admittedly Team Mac As An Abbreviation in practice. If you’re not sure where you’re stand, you’re not alone. While over 167,000 people have liked the second tweet, there are well over a thousand comments debating the grammatical workings of “mac.”

Welcome to 2018, where we argue about macaroni and cheese. Join us, won’t you?

Stouffer’s official Twitter account even weighed in on the debate. According to the frozen dinner brand and presumed macaroni and cheese aficionados, “mac” is just short for “macaroni” and not an acronym for the full “macaroni and cheese.” However, I’m going to need Kraft to chime in on the topic as they are the one true macaroni and cheese experts.

Since Kraft has yet to tweet about it — and believe me, that silence is deafening — I’ll make the argument for them. Kraft’s beloved Easy Mac product seems to be a vote in favor of Team Mac Acronym. Easy Mac is not just macaroni noodles; it’s macaroni noodles and also the cheese powder. Therefore, one could argue that Easy Mac is short for Easy Macaroni and Cheese and, in turn, “mac” is short for “macaroni and cheese.”

On the other hand, Kraft’s actual website is kraftmacandcheese.com. If “mac” was actually an acronym from “macaroni and cheese,” don’t you think they would have gone with the much shorter url, kraftmac.com? (Which appears to be available, by the way. In case you feel so passionately about the issue that you wanna buy up a domain name about it.)

What I’m saying is the answer may not be as obvious as we assumed. Also, I should have been on my high school debate team with a focus on pasta-related policy.

As some stated, few people, if any at all, refer to macaroni and cheese as simply, “mac.” I certainly don’t have fond childhood memories of my parents pulling out that blue Kraft box and saying, “Kids, tonight we’re having MAC.” But, like, imagine if we did say that? Think of the time saved were we to shorten “macaroni and cheese” to just “mac.” Think of the mac that could have been eaten in that saved time. Think of what we could have accomplished. Would we have solved global warming by now?

This is not the first time Twitter has had length macaroni and cheese-related discussions. Recently, Twitter dragged someone for a photo of mac and cheese that was not up to the internet’s standards. The picture showed a bowl of cooked macaroni noodles with some mostly-unmelted shredded cheese dispersed throughout. “This is not mac and cheese,” one person responded. “It is mac, with some cheese, touching each other.”

Let the records show that this person also referred to “mac” as an abbreviation for “macaroni” and not the full “macaroni and cheese.”

Regardless of where you stand on the “mac” debate, please remember to mac/macaroni wisely and safely and, for the love of god, make it right.