Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn?

Great Debates
1

Seemed appropriate for discussion today, somehow, Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn? - The Straight Dope

2

I don’t care-- my** masa**'s gone away.

3

And on a serious note, I always assumed “cracking corn” was an old expression for “popping corn.” Any validity to that theory?

4

Don’t think so, no.

And I prefer to think the original text of the old minstrel song was “Gimcrack corn, and I don’t care…” – meaning, of course, that the singers were admitting that the song, and their show, was cheap, flashy, mawkish, and larded with fake sentimentality, but they don’t care – “Ol’s massa’s gone away,” i.e., the tone is appropriate to the story.

5

If someone figures out how to produce crack from corn, this country is going to go down the tubes.

6

We’re working on it. We could tell you more, but then we’d have to kill you.

Sincerely,
The Big Three
CIA, Freemasons, The Illuminati

7

I did not read the above post.
I know nothing.

8

Some wild birdseed I buy has cracked corn in it. I can’t think of a better name for the guy cracking it than Jimmy, except maybe Ed or Cecil. I don’t really know.

9

What, you thought all those subsidies were really for ethanol production? :smiley:

10

In case anybody’s really interested, How to Make Cracked Corn

http://www.ehow.com/how_5705663_make-cracked-corn.html

It seems to be dried hulled* ground corn kernels, reduced to powder for animal feed or as a thickener.

*I would have guessed that “cracking” meant removing the hulls. This proves my gut instincts are wrong.

11

Tonight, on a Very Special Episode of Little House on the Prairie…

12

C K Dexter Haven, welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, we’re glad you’re here. Since this is a thread about Cecil’s column on Cracking Corn, may I suggest posting in our forum “Comments on Cecil’s Columns/Staff Reports” instead? You’ll get more friendly replies, I suspect, since they’ll be more on-topic. OK?

13

Um, you do realize that he is an Admin, and has been here longer than you?

14

This thread is left over from the corny humor of April Fool’s Day.
Since it is not seriously worried about Cece’s column and there really is no debate, (and it is now April 2), I think I’ll close it to avoid any more Reported Post e-mails.