# Name for end piece of bread? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215 "2007-03-23T17:43:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/41 "2007-03-24T01:09:42Z")
I call it the best piece of the loaf. I try to grab it right away. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/42 "2007-03-24T01:26:29Z")
It was the “heel” when I was a tot, but my wife’s family (mostly of German extraction) called it the “zipfel”. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/43 "2007-03-24T01:32:16Z")
[QUOTE=chrisk] Does that mean that the loaf has a butt at both ends? 😃 [/QUOTE] Why not? Many _people_ seem to. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/44 "2007-03-24T01:33:54Z")
We always called it the “heel” when I was growing up. But recently, for an unknown reason, I noticed I was calling it the crust. My son calls it the crust. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/45 "2007-03-24T02:27:43Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] I call it the best piece of the loaf. I try to grab it right away. [/QUOTE] I’m a butt man myself – boy that’ll be taken out of context won’t it. But back to the point, you’ve got to leave the butt/heel/putka in place it has a job! You Eat that sucker first or throw it away and the loaf starts drying out - not good. -rainy ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/46 "2007-03-24T02:43:03Z")
Crust. I’d never heard it called anything else 'till I saw it called the heel on this board. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/47 "2007-03-24T05:40:43Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] I didn’t get her to pronounce it. I only sent her an email (we are on different floors). There’s actually a special character from what I’ve been able to discern online: PIĘTKA . [/QUOTE] That would be pronounced approximately as “PYENT-ka.” (The “e” is a nasal vowel, like the “e” in “eng”.) Polish on both sides. Never heard my Polish-born folks refer to the heel as either putka or pietka. If I remember, I’ll ask them. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/48 "2007-03-24T08:10:13Z")
[QUOTE=rainy] you’ve got to leave the butt/heel/putka in place it has a job! -rainy [/QUOTE] Bonus: If you’re Mom or Dad you don’t mind eating the heel. One more sammich for me ! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/49 "2007-03-24T10:06:44Z")
[QUOTE=jabiru] Crust. I’d never heard it called anything else 'till I saw it called the heel on this board. [/QUOTE] I agree. It’s always been crust among my family. I’ve never heard any of these other alternatives (“heel”; “butt”). ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/50 "2007-03-24T11:58:51Z")
Crust in the UK. Heel in the US. I still call it the crust which generally results in strange looks from the wife and sproglets. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/51 "2007-03-24T12:54:00Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] I call it the best piece of the loaf. I try to grab it right away. [/QUOTE] There is an ordinance in this office that the heel is saved for ME!!! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/52 "2007-03-24T13:29:32Z")
My wife calls it the “kiss.” Why, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/53 "2007-03-24T13:34:33Z")
Heel. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/54 "2007-03-24T13:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] My wife calls it the “kiss.” Why, I have no idea. [/QUOTE] That’s the \*only \*name I’ve ever heard for it in Hebrew – I think it’s semi-official… I, too, have no idea **why** it’s called the “kiss” – My best guess is it’s because that’s where the top and bottom crust “kiss” each other – but I think it’s a lovely name and we should start a movement to get the English-speaking world to adopt the term 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/55 "2007-03-24T13:46:42Z")
Only ever heard it referred to as a crust in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/56 "2007-03-24T14:09:11Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] Only ever heard it referred to as a crust in the UK. [/QUOTE] In American English, the crust is the entire outside of the bread. So that thicker, dark part running around the entire edge of a single slice is what we call the crust. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/57 "2007-03-24T14:29:54Z")
We call it the cronka ; I believe that it’s Slovak in derivation. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/58 "2007-03-24T14:31:40Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] In American English, the crust is the entire outside of the bread. So that thicker, dark part running around the entire edge of a single slice is what we call the crust. [/QUOTE] It’s the same in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/59 "2007-03-24T14:46:01Z")
[QUOTE=Dominic Mulligan] It’s the same in Britain. [/QUOTE] I thought the one poster said just the heel was called the crust in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215/60 "2007-03-24T14:50:45Z")
Yes. We call the two things the same. Each slice of bread has a crust (unless you buy that crustless stuff) and each loaf has two crusts on the ends. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-for-end-piece-of-bread/397215.md?page=4)