Adobe

People have a lot of opinions about what to call the end of a loaf of bread

Is there anything worse than heading to the kitchen to make a sandwich and discovering that your loaf of bread is down to the last slice which, as we all know, is not really a slice at all? You know, the one that’s all crust? Although most everyone is familiar with the part of the loaf to which I refer, it turns out that people have very different names for it.

British actor Stephen Mangan recently tweeted that he always uses this part of the loaf when making toast, calling it a “quiet and selfless act of heroism” that goes “completely unnoticed” by his family. In his tweet, Mangan referred to it as “the end of the loaf,” which sparked a hot debate among his followers about the proper name for this part of the bread:

Although he originally referred to it as simply “the end of the loaf,” Mangan later clarified that “heel” is the correct name:

“The crust is the surface of a loaf,” he wrote. “The heel is the end slice. I’ll fight anyone who says any different.”

After people from all over chimed in with the many names this part of the bread goes by, Mangan recapped several of them and reiterated that the only correct name is, in fact, heel:

With astonishment, Mangan wrote that, according to some “weirdos,” this part of bread is known as everything from the knobby to the outsider to the bum, just to name a few apparent names for the slice.

Despite the insistence of thousands to the contrary, Mangan remained steadfast in his conviction and tweeted about the matter again the next day:

“If anyone’s looking for over 2000 tweets about what the end slices on a loaf are called (they are called heels) have a look at my timeline,” he wrote.

Who knew this was such a divisive issue! What do you call this part of the bread?