# Non U.S-ers - what's your word for... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480 "2011-03-21T16:59:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/1 "2011-03-21T16:59:11Z")
Half-popped popcorn kernels? I grew up in the Northern U.S. calling them ‘grannies’ and fighting over them w/ my brother. My mom won’t eat them (or she was saving them for us, that would be a mom thing to do on reflection). I figure the Germans have to have some angtsy word that sums up the whole idea of _‘a kernel of popcorn which does not fully pop and remains small and crunchy but not likely to break your tooth’._ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/2 "2011-03-21T17:05:11Z")
I am from the UK and we don’t to my knowledge have a word for them. I call them “popcorn that didn’t pop” and I love 'em. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/3 "2011-03-21T17:06:12Z")
Heck, I live in the US and I’ve never heard a word for them. Grannies? Never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/4 "2011-03-21T17:06:57Z")
We called 'em “old maids.” Also northern US. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/5 "2011-03-21T17:20:32Z")
seeds. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/6 "2011-03-21T17:27:07Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > We called 'em “old maids.” Also northern US. The same as the midwest, southwest - whatever the heck Oklahoma is. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/7 "2011-03-21T17:40:16Z")
“Old maid” is an unpopped kernel. I never heard it used for a partially popped one. In fact, I don’t recall hearing it used for even unpopped kernels until I was an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/8 "2011-03-21T17:44:48Z")
“Unpopped kernel.” Trenton, NJ. I’ve heard “old maid,” but only since I moved away, and maybe only on TV. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/9 "2011-03-21T17:45:12Z")
Here in California, we’ve always called them “unpopped kernels”. I didn’t know we needed a special word… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/10 "2011-03-21T17:50:52Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Here in California, we’ve always called them “unpopped kernels”. That’s what I’ve heard, southeastern US. I’d never heard “old maid” until recently on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/11 "2011-03-21T17:52:24Z")
Michigan here. Never heard a specific word for them. I call 'em “unpopped kernels.” ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/12 "2011-03-21T17:53:46Z")
I thought “old maids” were the completely unpopped ones, still in their original smooth condition. Half-popped ones don’t have a name, but they’re the best, so I just call them “mine!” ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/13 "2011-03-21T17:57:54Z")
For some reason (surely due to some chemical I prefer to think doesn’t exist in my food) the unpopped kernels from microwave popcorn invariably are the yummiest grannies when you repop them w/ your next batch. You know, the mushroom shape that looks straight out of Mario Bros? ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/14 "2011-03-21T18:23:25Z")
Old maids - I got it from my mom who grew up in Colorado, but I’m in the upper midwest in the US. I’m not sure if it refers only to unpopped kernels or to unpopped and half-popped kernels alike, though. (Probably because I don’t eat them. More for you guys.) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/15 "2011-03-21T19:49:16Z")
I have no word for either, but I like “Old Maids” for the unpopped ones (even though it is terribly misogynistic). Maybe we need to invent a word for half-popped ones - slackers? ETA: I mean, call the half-popped ones “slackers,” not that you guys are slackers. I couldn’t possibly comment on that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/16 "2011-03-21T19:55:17Z")
I’ve never called those anything except “unpopped popcorn/kernels.” New York. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/17 "2011-03-21T21:10:01Z")
I’ve never heard a word used to describe them. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/18 "2011-03-22T08:50:32Z")
I’ve heard them called old maids, but I don’t call them that. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/19 "2011-03-22T12:15:08Z")
Kewpies. (A derivative of ‘NQPs’ - ‘not quite popped.’) ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480/20 "2011-03-22T12:53:10Z")
As a German, not only have I not heard a word for it, I’ve yet to come across such a thing. I’ve only ever seen the completely unpopped ones that stay in the bottom of the bag and I’m sure earn dentist all over the world billions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-ers-whats-your-word-for/575480.md?page=2)