sweetcorn

I should probably wait for someone British to reply, but I'll take a guess. In the U.S., corn that people eat is just called corn (canned, frozen, or fresh, on the cob). However, I think that in England, corn that is eaten by people is called sweetcorn to distinguish it from types of corn used to feed animals.

Yes; in BrE, sweetcorn is always Zea mays (or rather, one of its cultivated varieties). "Corn" is a general term for wheat, barley, and sometimes other kinds of graminaceous food crop; especially when seen in the field.

MrP

Thank you guys.It makes sense.

I guess in England it makes sense. In the U.S., calling wheat and barley "corn" makes as much sense as calling pears and peaches "apples." It amazes me sometimes that we think we speak the same language!

Here in the Midwest, U.S., we call the corn that people eat sweetcorn (or sweet corn)...to emphasize that it is very sweet and delicious. Corn that is fed to the animals are called the feed corn. Interesting!

Regarding sweetcorn, I'd say in BrE we'd call it "maize" if it was a crop in the field, "sweetcorn" if it's in a tin or freezer bag, and "corn-on-the-cob" if it's...well...on the cob.

Just the word "corn" would imply a general grain as suggested above, but I think we too would use "grain" when writing formally.

Would you agree?

Yes; "grain" has a more businesslike air.

I suppose maize ('Indian corn') is a relatively recent crop, in the British Isles, in comparison with wheat or barley.

I'm intrigued as to how these lines of Shakespeare sound, to American ears:

"Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn
Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load?"

"What valiant foemen

Well it sounds Greek to me!!!

But let's see what the native Americans have to say.

Yes, I would first think of maize -- I would have to really stop and think about it to realize that Shakespeare meant something else! It's also maize in the song "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'" (from the musical Oklahoma) --[8] "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye/ an' it looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky." [8] Would you think of wheat or barley when you hear that?

<Yes, I would first think of maize>

Well, well. How very different that makes it seem. And cornfields (and cornfield weeds) are everywhere in English literature. It would be quite distressing to have to imagine maize instead...

<It's also maize in the song "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'" (from the musical Oklahoma) -- "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye/ an'