In Peter Green's "Alexander of Macedon" he quotes Demosthenes: "Observing that we consume more imported corn than any other nation, [Philip] proposed to get control of the carrying trade in corn."
Obviously he's not talking about maize. Is this a weird bit of translation? Is 'corn' used in some fields as a catch-all term for grain? Was there some then-current grain that's also rendered in modern english as 'corn'?
2007-12-17 05:48:35 · 4 answers · asked by Biff Loman 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
"Corn" in European or British usage, was and is a generic term for grain, usually wheat.
What we in North America call "corn" is known as "maize" in Europe; I've also seen it referred to in England as "sweetcorn".
2007-12-17 05:54:21 · answer #1 · answered by ? 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Corn is a generic word in British English for all kinds of cereals. Maize is known as 'sweetcorn'
2007-12-17 06:14:05 · answer #2 · answered by rdenig_male 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
prior to the discovery of the new world and maize which we know as corn, all european cereal grains were known collectively as corn. this is still true in some areas of europe.
2007-12-17 06:04:10 · answer #3 · answered by Loren S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Corn is what the British call any grain crop, or something the size of a grain, like small chucks of salt...."Corned beef"
2007-12-17 07:05:44 · answer #4 · answered by glenn 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋