Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)To admit to the truth of the point at issue or to a mistake; tocop a plea; or perhaps to admit to a small error but not a larger one.1846,Jesse Speight, address to the U.S. Senate:I hope he will give up the argument, or to use a familiar phraseacknowledge the corn.1859, J. Underwood, letter to the editor, Samuel W. Cole (editor),The New England Farmer, Volume 11,I should like to take a job of that kind on a wager with him, or any other New Hampshire man, and if I did not come out a little ahead on the "home stretch," why then I would "acknowledge the corn," and own myself beaten.1880, Parliament of Canada,Official report of the debates of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada:Will the hon. gentlemanacknowledge the corn? He does not do it. He is non-committal.1892,The American magazine:They had simply to "acknowledge the corn," round up, and — "vamoose"; then, so soon as the soldiers had gone back to the fort, there was no law to prevent their returning.
Validation Count: 0
Sourced from Wiktionary