Growing up in Northern Indiana, my dad says that most people he knew as a kid called the two ends of a bread loaf "krunkas" (spelled phonetically; krunkas being plural). His hometown consisted of a large Polish population, and he suspects that the word is Polish. Of course, I get odd looks for calling it that, but it is more fun to say than "end of the bread loaf."
I am wondering:
A) Is krunka really the Polish word for this?
B) If so, how do I spell it?
C) If not, is this even a "real" word, or has my dad just messing with my mind all these years?
Thanks.
Hi, Amanda. I forget if I mentioned this on our show about Family Words a while back, but in his book of the same name, Paul Dickson mentions having collected from various families the names “bumper,” “truna,” and “tumpee” for that part of a loaf. I know we have some Polish speakers who visit the forum, so maybe we'll get an answer soon about "krunkas."
"End"? Â Am I the only one who grew up calling that slice the "heel"?
Bob Bridges said:
"End"? Â Am I the only one who grew up calling that slice the "heel"?
No, I've always called  it the  heel.  Regionalism, maybe? Â
"Heel" works in SW MO.
Emmett