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Is it Corn, or is it Maize?

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by admin

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There was this woman on tv, I doubt she was Native American, but dressed to resemble one and she said:"You call it corn, but I call it maize" and now I am not sure. Should I still call it "corn" if I am not one of "her people" or should I use the term "Maize"? Additionally, how can I tell whether or not I am one of her people?

34 replies

by petemcc

To the run of the mill(!) American citizen, it's corn (derived from the English word for grain). To the Taino
Native Americans it was mahiz and to the Spanish explorers it was maiz.

You should call it whatever makes you comfortable, although ifyou ask for maize on the cob at your local produce market, the result may be confusion and hostility from the staff.

As to whether you are one of her people, only you know if you are a television actress, although I suspect not.

By the way,if you go to an Indian restaurant should you order pemmican?

by admin

Well, evidently, if you buy Mazola it may also be Maize or Maiz or mahiz, I'm not entirely sure which.

:>

by rdschaefer

I have no idea why we are discussing this, but a little levity makes the night go faster. Anyway, technically, in today's connotation, "corn" is used to refer to the various varieties of consistantly 'white' or 'yellow' kernals while "maize" refersto the 'natural' multi-colored ears. This is analogous to the white-rice/wild-rice varieties.

Ralph

by juniper

To Ralph Schaefer, thought I would make your life go even faster, your comment "little levity" was that in direct relation to the fact that the bread that is made from the corn, sorry, maize can be levened or unlevened? Lets discuss how utterly amazing the world of computing can be instead!

by epepke

You bored, too?

"Corn" is English for "that damned stuff that we have to eat all winter because we haven't invented refrigeration yet and nothing else that dries out nicely seems to grow around here." So, to Americans, "corn" means maize, while to the English, "corn" means wheat.

Maybe the woman was second-generation English and came to America looking for work, not knowing that "Indian" meant "these people are obviously not from India, but hey, who's going to come and check? It's not as if we had television cameras on the Santa Maria."

By the way, "America" means "some dumb rich guy read the wildly inflated biography of a common seaman named Amerigo Vespucci who in real life never did much."

by admin

On the subject.

"Columbus corrupted "mahiz" or "mahis" in the Taino dialect to "maiz",
which we in English pronounce "maize".
Corn on the other hand, outside of the US is often a word used
interchangeably with "grain," and which it's argued is a bastardization of
the Latin word "granum," or the Indoeuropean word "grn," meaning small
nugget.
Corn, Korn, Granum, Grit, Kernal, etc. are all derivatives of "grn."
In other words, the Pilgrims weren't calling corn meaning "maiz/maize,"
but intead calling it "a type of grain."
According to John J. Finan in his 1950 work "Maize in the Great Herbals,"
note there are various 16th and 17th documents that use the term "maize" in
Europe, but these herbal varieties are primarily of two types, one being
from India (Frumentum Indicum) and the other from Turkey (Frumentum Turcicum
or Tuerkische Korn). The Turkish variety resembles the N. American variety,
while the Indian variety that of the Caribbean.
The real question is how did the Maiz/Maize get to Europe from the
Americas? It wasn't just via, as often taught, Columbus. Most authorities
believe maize was introduced into India by the Portuguese in the 16th
century.
In other words, the Pilgrims had prior exposure to Maiz/Maize/Corn in the
Netherlands.
So, without calling this woman in question, pompous, I would have to say
she probably doesn't know what she's talking about. In other words an idiot
(unless she was "Hispanic," and from the Caribbean).
It's common knowledge that each Indian tribe had their own word for
maize/maiz. NOTE: In Nahuatl (Aztec) maize is called "centli," in Maya it's
"cor" and in Zapotec it's "rxoa."
In other words, for an American Indian to say that "maize" is their word,
is ridiculous. It's an Englisized version of the Spanish "maiz," which
derived from the Taino's "mahiz" or "mahis.""

by admin

Actually, it is an American who lives in Spain.

Oh well, at least I'm on topic for once :>

by packratt

My people call it corny...

Though...

I am not quite certain that any people or persons could be considered as my people, except, perhaps, for my offspring...

Yet...

My offspring seem too independent to be my people...

But...

I guess that's not what's ment by the term, my people. In any other sense, I guess there is no such thing as my people since I am such a mix of nationalities and races anyway...

although...

This makes me wonder if I should come up with a term that mypeople, (read myself), should call that yellow and white kernelly stuff that grows on a cob and is not so easily digested but tastes rather nice when cooked and smothered with salt and butter.

Corny indeed?

by contrapuntally

As I wander through the maize of possible interpretations of a television actress dressing as one of the indigenous people, presumably, of this continent, and passing herself off as owning (so to speak) either the term maize or the actual grain itself, I too begin to wonder.
I wonder why it's necessary to emphasize the idea that there are different "people". That her "people" are likely different than other people's "people". If one believes in the theory that there is such a thing as macro evolution than homo sapiens (us people) arrived on this ball of dirt between 35 and 50,000 years ago. Supposedly all us people came from a common reptilian root that'd mean that them is us. Therefore I am her "people" too.
Going back a bit further the flowering plants, angiosperms, which made their appearance some 65+ million years ago near the end of the cambrian era and are the family in which grains reside, belonged to no one for many millions of years. I want to know how, if somehow her people are different from my people, her people won the right to claim maize as their own private corn. Was there some great maizefield war that we don't know about?
Recent archeological evidence shows the fossilized grains of corn were found under Mexaco City that date (if you accept current dating methods as being accurate) some
There is no mention of fossalized remains of television actresses dressed in indigenous "people" garb being found at it or any other site.
To clip the tassle on my comments let us look at the latin derivation of Maize - Meaizacoliniculum, meaning; "Human transport vehicle for funny yellow particals found in poop."

by admin

Then "My People" include just me?

I must say, I prefer belonging to the group of all people as "My People".

Come to think of it, Margarine Girl didn't look too authentically like she belonged to any group, but then, I suspect that off camera perhaps she was a little different.

I suppose I never anticipated this whole "My People" angle, but then, I'm kind of a happy go lucky sort of Mutt :>

by juanita marquez

I can consider myself to be representative of the South American Indian (Inca-type blood) contingent via my mother's genetic contribution, and I can assure you she never called it maize, she always called it corn. Of course, this was when she learned English. In Spanish the word maiz can be used, but then the problem is what happens if you use both words? My mother is neither North American nor a television actress, but she is able to validly claim using the word maiz, with "her people". When she got to N. America she called it corn. So I would argue that the television actress has it all backwards, and should have called it corn all along.

What really concerns me is what do we call the singular grain, kernel or Colonel? How do weknow that corn/maize doesn't have a hierarchy amongst themselves? Should we call the infamous .dll kernel or Colonel? Is it again a Southern/Northern hemisphere thing? What do they call the kernel.dll in South America?

Resolving this may help us answer this thorny conundrum. Unfortunately I think the Illuminati are involved so we may never know for sure.

by admin

How long would it take for the whole OS to go down?

So...... possibly then, TV may be wrong? Scary thought indeed!

How did the letters C O L O N E L ever come to sound like "Colonel" anyway?

~

by epepke

As to the other, it was that corny Kentucky chicken guy (who was really from Ohio).

by generalist

You could always place the blame for the corn-fusion on Madison Avenue. They have an a-maize-ing tendency to twist reality to meet the image that they want to project.

by juanita marquez

Wait, you mean the perfume I wear doesn't make me look like a skeletal waif?

That also might explain why I've failed to have either singular or multiple "organic experiences" while using a certain shampoo, darnit.

by juniper

So many if's and but's, why not make a conscious decision, that when you are dressed up as a Native American Indian, and in the vacinity of Corn, relate to it as Maize. When in your traditional dress refer to it as corn! If anyone asks why just tell them you are not quite sure! God forbid she should claim to be Jewish, that is not so easy to switch between, it takes more than a fancy costume!!

by jack_swayze

If you are inclined to do the Jewish one, the (ancient) Hebrew for corn is 'Dagan' (as transliterated by Strongs Hebrew lexicon).

by juanita marquez

...not to be confused with the Assyrian fishman god Dagon.

Perhaps this explains the connection with putting a fish in the ground with a corn/maize seed.

This is starting to sound like that show "Connections".

by juniper

Sanders was his name, chicken was his game, mouthwatering at that, ugh Foul! Pardon the pun! He never refered to his corn as maize now did he? I think it went something like hot ears of corn drizzling in butter! Is he still alive I wonder or are they just claiming his "people" are now doing for themselves.

by ebob

The Colonel/Kernel kicked the bucket alright. But was it wings (assuming the "chicken" is actually fowl, not foul) or ears that hit the floor when he went thump?

by epepke

"Fish Heads" was recorded by Barnes and Barnes, half of which name is half of Barnes and Noble which stocks 538 titles that match the keyword "corn."

Coincidence? I think not.

(For some reason, the first three titles on the list are about sex.)

by admin

Ah yes, another fond memory.

I used to make sure all my work was done in time for Doctor Demento as a child, where I first heard this wonderfully comforting song.

:>

by generalist

Fishheads is one of the favorite 'drive them crazy' songs of my family. I sometimes wonder if it indicates that the family is warped.

Of course, another favorite song is 'Three Blue Pigeons'. If you want an example of an infinite song, that is a good one.

(Wait! I can blame it on my wife being a Girl Scout. That is where she learned the songs...)

by tomsal

hmm..."popmaize"...nah just doesn't sound right...

I think its corn.

But in these politically correct times (the PC term for "Politically Correct" btw is "Anal Retentive") - I wouldn't be so suprised if some yahoo isn't trying to make a serious issue out of this some where or another.

After all perhaps you'll remember the hub bub that went over gaining acceptance of the term "chairperson" over "chairman".

I wonder if people can trick their kids into eating "Creamed Maize" better than they can if they say "Creamed Corn". ;)

by generalist

I've never seen the show, but I tend to read the 'Connections' article in Scientific American.

It just shows that everything is connected to everything else, often in ways that are stranger than any story.

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