# Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 1, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477 "2012-04-01T14:25:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/1 "2012-04-01T14:25:13Z")
Seemed appropriate for discussion today, somehow, [Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1288/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn) ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/2 "2012-04-01T14:31:15Z")
I don’t care-- my\*\* masa\*\*'s gone away. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/3 "2012-04-01T14:35:34Z")
> [@Corn Kernel](#): > > Seemed appropriate for discussion today, somehow, [Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1288/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn) And on a serious note, I always assumed “cracking corn” was an old expression for “popping corn.” Any validity to that theory? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/4 "2012-04-01T18:22:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/5 "2012-04-01T19:50:46Z")
If someone figures out how to produce crack from corn, this country is going to go down the tubes. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/6 "2012-04-02T14:56:07Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > If someone figures out how to produce crack from corn, this country is going to go down the tubes. 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 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/7 "2012-04-02T15:37:27Z")
> [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > 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 I did _not_ read the above post. I know nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/8 "2012-04-02T15:44:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/9 "2012-04-02T16:32:48Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > If someone figures out how to produce crack from corn, this country is going to go down the tubes. What, you thought all those subsidies were _really_ for ethanol production? 😃 ---
**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:** [April 2, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/10 "2012-04-02T17:19:39Z")
In case anybody’s really interested, _How to Make Cracked Corn_ [http://www.ehow.com/how\_5705663\_make-cracked-corn.html](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. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/11 "2012-04-02T17:30:37Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > If someone figures out how to produce crack from corn, this country is going to go down the tubes. Tonight, on a Very Special Episode of Little House on the Prairie… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/12 "2012-04-02T17:36:55Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/13 "2012-04-02T17:40:45Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > 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? Um, you do realize that he is an Admin, and has been here longer than you? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn/617477/14 "2012-04-02T17:49:07Z")
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.