Week in Insights: When Calling It a Wrap Means Something More

When I first moved to Philadelphia, it was pretty easy to peg me as an out-of-towner. No, it wasn’t my funny accent or big hair, nor my penchant for putting peanuts in my Diet Coke. I broke a cardinal rule: I called a hoagie a sub sandwich.

The word hoagie is ubiquitous in Philadelphia—the term was reportedly coined here. The generally accepted story is that Italians working at the old Navy Yard on Hog Island would put meat, cheese, and lettuce between two slices of bread. It was first called the Hog Island sandwich and eventually shortened to “Hoggies” and ...