# The word corn **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837 "2014-04-11T01:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/21 "2014-04-11T18:31:22Z")
> [@Vaevictis](#): > > What do people in the UK call corn on the cob? “cattle feed”, generally. Never had it, never seen it, wouldn’t even know where to get it. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/22 "2014-04-11T18:50:57Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > “cattle feed”, generally. Never had it, never seen it, wouldn’t even know where to get it. Really? It’s in your supermarket, in the fresh veg section. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/23 "2014-04-11T19:16:07Z")
Thought I’d mention [corn dollies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dolly). Just because they’re cool. ---
**Author:** ![TommyzNR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@TommyzNR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyzNR)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/24 "2014-04-11T20:17:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Corn on the cob. > > When the kernels are served off the cob, we call it sweetcorn. Interesting, here sweetcorn is that wonderful stuff on the cob that is best from a roadside stand and fresh picked that day. There are some varieties that are incredibly sweet ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/25 "2014-04-11T21:16:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Corn on the cob. > > When the kernels are served off the cob, we call it sweetcorn. Sweetcorn is any corn (“maize”) edible by humans. The corn is harvested early, while it is still “sweet”; i.e., before all the sugar turns to starch. This corn is harvested in August. Corn that is left in the field until October or later is not edible by us. That corn is fed to the animals, used for corn oil, or other corn uses. If you pick an ear of corn soon after it appears on the plant, it is edible raw. Those small ears can be found in stores in various concoctions. That’s the corn often found in Chinese foods. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/26 "2014-04-11T21:21:11Z")
BTW, corn not harvested early and left for feed for cattle is sometimes called “field corn.” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/27 "2014-04-11T21:30:26Z")
I was once in a Bible study reading my New English Version translation - printed for the UK market - and received much grief because it referred to sowing corn. “They didn’t have corn back then!” they all said, chuckling at the supposed anachronism. I tried to explain that ‘corn’ was generic for ‘grain’ in British English, but they didn’t trust my translation after that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/28 "2014-04-11T22:44:30Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Thought I’d mention [corn dollies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_dolly). Just because they’re cool. I know how to make those (the lantern type) - it’s surprisingly simple (although I usually make them out of water rushes. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/29 "2014-04-11T22:48:07Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Sweetcorn is any corn (“maize”) edible by humans. The corn is harvested early, while it is still “sweet”; i.e., before all the sugar turns to starch. This corn is harvested in August. Corn that is left in the field until October or later is not edible by us. That corn is fed to the animals, used for corn oil, or other corn uses. If you pick an ear of corn soon after it appears on the plant, it is edible raw. Those small ears can be found in stores in various concoctions. That’s the corn often found in Chinese foods. It’s not all exactly the same thing - there are varieties that have been optimised for each particular kind of use - super-sweet ones that don’t quickly turn to starch, others that form a larger number of cobs ideal for harvesting as baby corn (but would be inferior if left to grow to full size, others that are best for popping, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/30 "2014-04-11T22:48:26Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > In America, “corn” refers almost exclusively to maize in particular. It’s rarely called by the name “maize”. It’s usually just called corn. Except by the pompous bastards at the University of Michigan. They refer to that hideous, eye-searing YELLOW they use for their athletic teams as “maize.” I’ve seen comments by grads/followers of Michigan State to the effect of: “Leave it to UM to use the term ‘maize’ when the word ‘yellow’ would do just fine.” I echo that sentiment. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/31 "2014-04-11T23:53:13Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > Except by the pompous bastards at the University of Michigan. They refer to that hideous, eye-searing YELLOW they use for their athletic teams as “maize.” I’ve seen comments by grads/followers of Michigan State to the effect of: “Leave it to UM to use the term ‘maize’ when the word ‘yellow’ would do just fine.” I echo that sentiment. Googling suggests they use ffcb05 and at least one place calls that “vivid yellow.” Although I see a hint that it’s different between academic and athletic use, so I assume it’s the former. Maize color I would see as less saturated or darker. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/32 "2014-04-12T00:00:16Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > And “cornflour” in the UK is corn starch, that is, maize flour - never wheat flour. And breakfast cereal made from maize is called Cornflakes in the UK, just as in America. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/33 "2014-04-12T00:07:53Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Really? It’s in your supermarket, in the fresh veg section. And in cans advertised by the Jolly Green Giant on telly for years, and on your pizza and in the freezer section of the supermarket. Do you not get out much? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/34 "2014-04-12T03:20:57Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > This is also common in the UK as well - at least in the southwest, where there are 5 or 6 maize mazes that I drive past relatively regularly when they are in season. Such as [this one](http://www.amazingcornishmaizemaze.co.uk/). And, true to form, the ad in that link works the punny names to the max: “Amazing Cornish Maize Maze” They are quite popular in California too, so not only in the Midwest, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/35 "2014-04-12T04:18:06Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > “cattle feed”, generally. Never had it, never seen it, wouldn’t even know where to get it. Do you live in Antarctica?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/36 "2014-04-12T04:36:11Z")
Just to confuse things, something that saved lives and then took more was when folks learned to corn gunpowder. Corned gunpowder is really the thing that changed the course of the world. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/37 "2014-04-12T04:37:55Z")
They say that Jimmy cracked it, but I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/38 "2014-04-12T05:52:41Z")
Just to go against the trend a little: Growing up in Ireland, I always understand “corn” to mean maize. In fact, we never used the word maize, because we referred to it as corn. I have never heard anyone use the word corn - unqualified and standing alone - to refer to any other kind of grain or crop. So it seems to me that the word nowadays means the same thing in Ireland as it does in America. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/39 "2014-04-12T06:46:18Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > So it seems to me that the word nowadays means the same thing in Ireland as it does in America. I was wondering at the start of this thread [what type of corn Trevelyan was being a dick about](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fields_of_Athenry). Thanks for reminding me to check. I looked and wiki says maize. Irish song, 1970s, doesn’t sound like it’s intended to be ambiguous. Heh heh, Trevelyan is a Cornish name. And it was covered by Barleycorn. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837/40 "2014-04-12T11:27:44Z")
Am sure this isn’t a national standard, but in Australian terminology, farmers plant maize, fed to livestock it’s usually called maize, but consumers refer to the kernels as corn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-word-corn/685837.md?page=3)