# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/41 "2010-05-05T20:16:13Z")
Helicopters – grew up in Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/42 "2010-05-05T20:17:19Z")
From rural Minnesota: helicopters, or whirlybirds, interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/43 "2010-05-05T20:54:30Z")
I’ve never seen those in my entire life. If I were pressed to describe it, I’d say, “Those weird feathery looking seed thinggamajiggers.” Lived in California my whole life, btw. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/44 "2010-05-05T21:16:27Z")
Helicopters, or just maple seeds. Grew up in Wisconsin, live in Illinois now. We have two fairly large silver maple trees in our yard. The helicopter blizzard is just starting; in a week or two, they will be EVERYWHERE. Hates them! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Not_Appearing_on_This_Site)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/45 "2010-05-05T21:38:02Z")
Helicopters! Grew up in Michigan ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/46 "2010-05-05T21:39:48Z")
Never had a name for them, but we did stick them on our noses. Grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and the middle of New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/47 "2010-05-05T21:40:32Z")
The ones that you can split open and stick to your nose are Pinocchio noses. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/48 "2010-05-05T22:52:40Z")
Something I’ve never seen or heard of before. ---
**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, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/49 "2010-05-05T23:03:32Z")
Innerestin. I’m in the middle of New York and I share with Wisconsin and IL. Probably whirlagigs predates helicopters but has been mostly replaced. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/50 "2010-05-05T23:06:26Z")
Whirly birds and sometimes helicopters. Tennessee. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/51 "2010-05-05T23:20:15Z")
Helicopters. The trees are revving up to dump bushel baskets full, 2-3" deep, all over our lawn. Our neighbors just love us, as you might guess. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/52 "2010-05-06T01:47:33Z")
Mostly Helicopters, but sometimes Whirlybirds. SE Michigan, born & raised… _BITCH!_ ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/53 "2010-05-06T02:05:44Z")
Whirlybirds. Northeastern Kansas. I never could do the whistle thing with them but I always thought they were cool. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/54 "2010-05-06T02:39:06Z")
Whirlygigs or helicopters - grew up in Indiana. ---
**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 6, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/55 "2010-05-06T10:43:20Z")
[http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/focus/s\_568866.html](http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/focus/s_568866.html) Pittsburgh cite for both whirligigs and helicopters. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/56 "2010-05-06T10:49:24Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Strangely I don’t really know of any colloquial term here in Ontario, Canada, of all places. Maple “key” perhaps? Really? When I was growing up around the Bay of Quinte (20~ years ago), we kids called them helicopters too. And opened them up and took the seeds out, and used the sticky pod sides to attach them to the bridge of our nose. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/57 "2010-05-06T10:53:00Z")
I grew up in MA & NH. We stuck them to our noses too, but I don’t recall anyone calling them anything but seeds. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/58 "2010-05-06T12:06:55Z")
> [@Daerlyn](#): > > Really? When I was growing up around the Bay of Quinte (20~ years ago), we kids called them helicopters too. And opened them up and took the seeds out, and used the sticky pod sides to attach them to the bridge of our nose. I never heard the term “helicopters” used for them in Sarnia. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/59 "2010-05-06T13:05:01Z")
When I grew up in Pennsylvania, we didn’t really have a name for them, just called them maple seeds. We did stick them on our noses, though, and I do recall us calling each other “Pinnochi-Nose.” Reading all of these similar posts, it strikes me that we all must have grown up in the same Stephen King novel. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395/60 "2010-05-06T14:04:07Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I grew up in MA & NH. We stuck them to our noses too, but I don’t recall anyone calling them anything but seeds. I grew up in Ct. and also never heard of calling them anything but seeds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-these-things/538395.md?page=4)