- Joined
- May 1, 2006
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One thing worth considering is that maize used to be (up into the 19th century at least) called "Indian corn" in the US. The name was used for all kinds of corn, not just the colored stuff people use for Halloween decorations.
The name was a way of saying "the stuff that's the common grain of the Indians," similar to the usage of "corn" to mean wheat or oats where those were the dominant grains. Sometimes it was shortened to "Indian" rather than "corn," as in "rye and Indian bread" meaning bread made of rye flour and cornmeal combined.
Apparently we just dropped the "Indian" part and, like the rest of the English-speaking world, now use "corn" for the grain that grows best in our area.
The name was a way of saying "the stuff that's the common grain of the Indians," similar to the usage of "corn" to mean wheat or oats where those were the dominant grains. Sometimes it was shortened to "Indian" rather than "corn," as in "rye and Indian bread" meaning bread made of rye flour and cornmeal combined.
Apparently we just dropped the "Indian" part and, like the rest of the English-speaking world, now use "corn" for the grain that grows best in our area.