that's a ceiling finish and whoever designed it should be dragged out back and shot....to remove it is the biggest mess and people should not live in the house when it's done.... they scrape and sand the 1/8 of an inch of "popcorn" finish and the dust is horrendous.... common in the '70's and into the '80's.... I always removed it and had skimcoat plaster replace it, in homes that I renovated...

It's actually a plucky little post by an up and coming blogger: 

Making Popcorn (the secret to networking)

A sign that the property is old and needs to be updated.

something that like pancakes with too much butter sticks to the ceiling when popping or flipping!

Something to enjoy while we are enjoying your ongoing election proceedings!!!  Alternative usage:  A style of ceiling finishing.

A readily available excuse for buyers to offer less than asking price for a home.

That white cottage cheesy stuff that is blown onto ceilings.  Most of which is removed over time because it is just not THE THING anymore. 

Something that as popular in the 80s and into the 90s.  Not so much anymore.

Awful looking ceiling texturing that totally dates a house

I just removed the popcorn from my home.

A sign that the drywall finish is not first class!

No surprise here.  The membership of ActiveRain has more than a kernel of knowledge on the subject.   

definitely no jokes here - Popcorn ceilings are miserable - and when the seller highlights them with gold paint - I can't even describe my reaction! 

Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers Looks like everyone beat me to this one.

Horrid ceiling texture that depending on what century it was installed/sprayed could have asbestos.

I hope you are posting these challenges on your Pinterest boards.

A ceiling texture from the early 70s.

I'm with Barbara Todaro, but maybe just jail the guy who created it rather than shoot him! 

It's all over my ceiling and scraping it off is a real PITA!

Ceiling cover, to diffuse both sound and light.  It was a horrible idea.

I assume to you are referring to a style of ceiling finish? And oh so ugly and dated and expensive to get rid of.

It has to do with the type of ceiling.  Popcorn ceilings should always be painted over to eliminate health concerns or knocked down by a professional.  You don't want to scrape the so called popcorn yourself.

In my market we use the term Popcorn to describe a ceiling with lumps and bumps that intentionally added in the 50's 60's & 70's as a tecturing for ceiling by the plasterer.

A type of ceiling finish that screams "OLD HOUSE"

Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers - something to do with ceiling?

That's a finish on ceilings that no one likes anymore. 

It is what gets stuck inder my false teeth at the movies.  Or...what Barbara said.

It's that stuff that ends up all over my house when I open a box from a shipping cmpany.

The ceilings in a condo I showed today!

It is that ugly pimply stuff clinging to the ceilings to hide blemishes. That is the first things buyers say they will be removing.

An ugly ceiling finish that absolutely no one likes.

Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers Another construction term I learn.

It is a finishing choice of ceiling.

Another reason to pop a beer!

Something my clients usually strongly dislike and make a ceiling look gross and severely outdated. 

A snack that gets stuck in my teeth.

That is most well engineered feature to attenuate noise esp in multi level structures.  However, one or two manufacturers added asbestos in the lubricant.  I suspect it will be returned in the future.

What I am about to get rid of at our second home in Florida.

I know this one.