The term 'granny ring' came around in the early days of mountain biking. It was used to describe the tiny inner ring of a triple chainset, and somehow, it's found its way into road and gravel riding.

It was sometimes used as a disparaging term, when riders of yesteryear used to grind up climbs in the Big Ring. Luckily for us, 'spinning' when going uphill is now a 'thing', and we get to use our Granny Ring without fear of 'hardmen' giving us gip​​.