Especially in recent history

It was the lunch of the World War II shipbuilder, who did a lot of grinding on his shift.

The bad one is a Boston South End term...the Spuckie. It sounds like the remains of spitting on the floor.

I agree it is a most unappealing word.

...the word "sputum." Not unlike your own comment.

It's a hoagie, sorry. My brother lives in central PA where it's a sub. A "zep" I believe is a specific sandwich from Norristown which is basically an Italian hoagie without lettuce. Then there's Subway, those things are NOT hoagies no matter where you are.

that travesty and maker of bad sandwichs! I’m from Norristown. A zep - tomato, provolone, salami, onions, oregano and oil. I never even realized it was regional until I left the region for college and nowhere could I find my favorite hoagie. I always thought a Zep was on a Kaiser. I have no idea why Norristown has its own sandwich, but now I am hungry.

... but ours are better than Philly cheese-steaks.

Our Pittsburgh hoagies have pepperoni, salami, sometimes ham slices with cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion and italian oil dressing and it's baked in the oven until the cheese melts. (no more than 1-2 minutes) Yum!

Primanti Brothers sandwiches are different, we don't call them hoagies.

They're the ones with lots of meat & cheese, coleslaw and french fries stuffed between thick slices of very fresh Italian bread. Hard to find anywhere else, just here. We also have Philly cheesesteaks, they're pretty popular even at Heinz Field and PNC Park.

(I can't eat meat with nitrates in it).

Sub platters in general are very limiting for me.

A hoagie is served cold. The best hoagies come from Philadelphia.

The sandwich you describe (a hoagie covered in cheese and heated) is called a grinder.

You're welcome.

I live in Pittsburgh and I've never eaten a cold hoagie. Ours are baked in a pizza oven and served hot.

And yes I do know the difference between a Pittsburgh (Italian style) hoagie and a Philly cheese steak hoagie. There's nothing called a "grinder" in Pittsburgh. So wherever you're from, your rules are different.

Westmoreland County. The fireman sell hoagies all the time for fundraising...yep, hoagies.

The term hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia Bulletin reported, in 1953, that Italians working at the World War I–era shipyard in Philadelphia known as Hog Island, where emergency shipping was produced for the war effort, introduced the sandwich by putting various meats, cheeses, and lettuce between two slices of bread.[citation needed] This became known as the "Hog Island" sandwich; shortened to "Hoggies", then the "hoagie".

Grinder

A common term in New England, its origin has several possibilities.[27] One theory has the name coming from Italian-American slang for a dock worker, among whom the sandwich was popular.[5] Others say it was called a grinder because it took a lot of chewing to eat the hard crust of the bread used.[28]

In Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and parts of New England the term grinder usually refers to a hot submarine sandwich (meatball; sausage; etc.), whereas a cold sandwich (e.g., cold cuts) is usually just simply called a "sub".[29]

I’m originally from western pa as well

It's a long o, so "hoe-gie"

Huge difference.

There's a place in Tucson, AZ, that calls itself the Hoagie House and I love their hoagies.

Not saying the sandwiches themselves can't be delicious, mind you.

But then, I was born and raised in NYC. I just live in Eastern PA and see hoagies advertised in restaurants and sandwich shops.

I went to college in Philadelphia. Either you got used to the term, or you order something else. Ask for a sub in Philly, and they'll call you a taxi so you can be driven down to the naval base on the Delaware River.

There is no sub sandwich in Philadelphia. None at all. You go to Pittsburgh you can get a sub. You come east you get a hoagie. I’ve actually had a grinder in both places, but they are frowned upon in Philadelphia.

"Italian Sandwiches" in Reading when I was growing up. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM good.

Grilled Ham and Cheese sandwiches were my favorite from a defunct shop named "Berks Pizza".

Hard roll, mayo, and some kind of dressing(secret sauce) with ham and provolone melted together on the flat top, grease be dammed.

slabbed on the roll and out the door.

In my travels.

One is like a sandwich, the other is made with flat bread and can be Greek or Lebanese.

Usually lamb (but not always) on Pita but I've also had subs that were called Hero sandwiches (or just Heroes).

A sub is a sub, though I've heard it's called "Hero" somewhere on the east coast.

Plus, I usually drink a bottle of pop with my sub. New Yorkers might drink a soda with their hero.

Me, since I'm cosmopolitain, I pronounce gyro like "hero."

They know what I mean. Because... It's Detroit, baby!

Either lighten up or toughen up, whatever works for you. Folks gonna call shit what they want. As long as it ain't racist in origin, who cares?

Hoagy's Corner. It went out of business decades ago. Maybe because here, we call them 'subs'.

who gives a damn what it is called

sounds like what Italians do after sex.

Yes you did. Thanks for playing though!

Never heard the term "sub" until I was an adult and we lived in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. The schools I went to listed them as hoagies on their menus, also. I personally don't care what it's called as long as it's delicious and even dirty, feces covered pigs go great with eggs.