hoagie

Philadelphian word for a sub sandwhich. Word likely has its origins from "Hog Island", which was an island intersecting the Delaware and Schuylkyl Rivers. The Irish and Italian people who lived there during the early 20th century where known as "Hog Islanders." In addition, they referred to one another many times as "Hogans" during their lunchbreaks. Eventually, the unique sandwhiches the men ate (they where large loaves of Philadelphian bread filled with meats--a precurser to the moder sub/hoagie) simply became known as "hoggies." Sometime by the end of WWII, the word transformed into its modern pronunciation and spelling: "hoagie."