Corn Means Maize in America and Any Grain in Britain
Corn is a cereal crop. Which cereal depends on which country you are standing in.
Corn is a cereal crop, but which one depends on where you are. In British use it means whatever grain is the local staple, usually wheat; in America it means maize, because settlers called the new crop *Indian corn* and then dropped the qualifier. The Corn Laws of nineteenth-century Britain were about wheat, not maize. A separate *corn* is a hardened patch of skin on the foot, from Latin *cornu*, a horn.
- Maize (American). *Corn on the cob.*
- Any cereal (British). *A field of corn.*
- A hard patch of skin. *A corn on the toe.*
- Corny — sentimental. *Corny.*
- Old English — *corn*, a grain. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | corn | Corn. |
| Adjective | corny | Corny. |
| Compound | cornfield | A cornfield. |
| Compound | popcorn | Popcorn. |
| Latin | cornu | A horn. |
- They grilled corn on the cob.American.
- The corn was ready to harvest.British.
- The Corn Laws concerned wheat.History.
Where corny comes from
- Corn-fed described rural American audiences
- Corn-fed humour meant jokes pitched at them
- Corny was shortened from that in the 1930s
- It now means sentimental or obviously old-fashioned
- The link to the crop is entirely forgotten in ordinary use
Old English *corn*, a grain or seed, of Germanic origin. The foot sense is Latin *cornu*, a horn.
Why does corn mean different things?
In Britain it means the local staple grain, usually wheat. American settlers used it for maize and dropped the qualifier from Indian corn.
Where does corny come from?
From corn-fed, describing rural American audiences, and then the unsophisticated humour aimed at them.