3 ms·
I like that a text by Pliny is dated as 2010
by wwilim 2y ago
I like that a text by Pliny is dated as 2010
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- nkozyra 2y agoI had no idea revisions were made to this but the title about the West and corn was a bit of a tipoff. Unless Pliny got a little sneak preview of Miller Lite back then.
- perihelions 2y agoThe translation into English "corn" doesn't refer to maize. It's unidiomatic in modern English but Gutenberg only has copyright-free translations, and this one is from the 19th century. edit: The word in the source text is frux (fruge) https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0138%3Abook%3D14%3Achapter%3D51 https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext... https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frux#Latin https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frux#Latin
- mrob 2y ago"Corn" traditionally just meant grain. "Corn" meaning maize is an abbreviation of "Indian corn", i.e. the grain used by Native Americans.
- kwhitefoot 2y agoCorn still means wheat, rye, etc. in British English. Maize is sweetcorn.
- jon_richards 2y agoSweetcorn is a specific maize meant for human consumption, distinct from popcorn or feed corn (which is also used for ethanol production, becoming "distillers grains" that are also fed to livestock).