# What do you call these things? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2010, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395 "2010-05-05T09:58:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/21 "2010-05-05T14:46:58Z")
Helicopters- Western NY and CT ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/22 "2010-05-05T15:00:36Z")
Helicopter seeds - Indiana ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/23 "2010-05-05T15:05:14Z")
Helicopters - South Carolina ---
**Author:** ![breaking-reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a8b319/32.png) [@breaking-reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaking-reality)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/24 "2010-05-05T15:15:55Z")
Helicopters - Illinois ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/25 "2010-05-05T17:22:33Z")
Whirligigs - NY. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/26 "2010-05-05T17:26:32Z")
Helicopters - Atlanta, Georgia, USA ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/27 "2010-05-05T17:27:18Z")
Helicopter seeds - Oregon ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/28 "2010-05-05T17:33:52Z")
When we stuck them to our noses, we called them pinnochi-noses. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/29 "2010-05-05T17:41:55Z")
Helicopters. South Carolina native now living in North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/30 "2010-05-05T17:46:13Z")
Helicopters – Iowa. I hate 'em. They take root in the vegetable garden and the flower bed. If I catch 'em when they’re small, they’re easy to pull, but give them a few weeks and I need to use a spade. I hate silver maples anyway – every time we mow I have to walk the yard first to pick up all the little branches. They do give nice shade, but they’re a bitch to clean up after. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/31 "2010-05-05T17:46:57Z")
I don’t remember having a particular name for them. I don’t think there are many of those trees here - or maybe just not where I live(d). Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/32 "2010-05-05T18:05:49Z")
Helicopters - Kansas (but mom was from Wisconsin…) But never ONCE did I manage to grow a helicopter in the back yard… ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/33 "2010-05-05T18:11:45Z")
Helicopters - Quebec. The same word was used by all the military kids when I lived in Germany too, and most of them were either Ontarian or Albertan. ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/34 "2010-05-05T18:15:42Z")
Whirlygigs–Central IL where I grew up ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/35 "2010-05-05T18:16:37Z")
helicopters - grew up in Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/36 "2010-05-05T18:25:24Z")
Helicopters - I grew up in Maryland. None here in Arizona. My Dad calls them “wings” - he grew up in Boston. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/37 "2010-05-05T18:26:19Z")
Helicopters. I grew up in the U.P. of Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/38 "2010-05-05T19:30:42Z")
Helicopters-Western New York My grandma in the Finger Lakes calls them whirligigs. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/39 "2010-05-05T19:38:09Z")
I wonder what everyone called them before helicopters were invented? Silver maple ones are the best- when they’re green, you can squeeze them and squirt the seed on someone. They have a range of a couple yards. Of course, there’s always the two ways of using them as a whistle. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/40 "2010-05-05T20:03:16Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I wonder what everyone called them before helicopters were invented? I once asked my mother, who was born in 1913. She said, “Canadian soldiers” . . . which is also a term for mayflies. I’m guessing she may have had the two confused. Strangely, I don’t call them helicopters; I simply call them maple seeds. Or actually \*\*\*damn \*\*\*maple seeds. If there were a market for maple seedlings I’d reap a fortune. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395.md?page=3)