And now it's time for who's smarted.
Psssss. Hey, Smartypants, trust you, narrator here.
I don't know about you, but I love lunch.
And breakfast and dinner, but especially lunch.
And especially when I'm visiting friends in a new city.
That's because I get to try out familiar foods at new places.
Who wants meat cake? Nope, not meat cake.
There's only one place to get meat cake, and I am not going there today.
Sorry, grandma. I beat!
Yeah, why yes, I do love pizza.
But today I'm in the mood for a different combination of bread, cheese, meats, and toppings.
Today I'm visiting a deli, which is short for the word delicatessen.
Any idea what that word means?
The word delicatessen comes from a German word, meaning delicacy or fine food.
And a delicatessen or deli is a shop where you can find foods that are mostly ready to eat, as in don't need to be cooked.
Which is good because I'm starving.
Next. Oh good, that's me.
Step down please. I'm stepping.
Hmm, I never forget a face.
I definitely remember yours.
First time here in Moos deli?
Why yes? And I'm very excited.
Yeah, I can see that. Is it your first time in a deli?
No, no, I'm a regular at most of the delis, back home.
Yeah, I can see that too.
All right, what will it be today?
I want a hero with ham, salami, turkey, pepperoni.
Provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, hot peppers, vinegar, oil, and a dab of mayo.
To go, you'll have a what?
I want ham, salami, turkey.
No, no, I got all that. What was the first thing you said?
I want a hero. What? You know, a sandwich on one of those long Italian rolls?
Like the ones sitting over there in that basket.
A preferably one with sesame seeds on top?
Well, you must be from out of town.
From here, we call sandwiches on long rolls a hogey.
A hogey. A hogey. I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone call it that before.
What about you, smarty pants?
Have you ever called your hero sandwich?
A hogey? Yeah, I don't know who you talking to, pal.
But here in Philly, home with a liberty bell?
We call them a hogeys. In that case, a hogey it is then.
Your name? trusty. You're saying rusty?
No, no, trusty. As in the trusty narrator from the popular Who Smarded Podcast?
I never heard of it. Step down.
It'll be ruddy in five. Step in.
Step in. Gee, smarty pants, that most sure as a character.
And once with him not knowing what a hero is and insisting I call my hero sandwich, a hogey.
Who's? Hey there. Trusty, right?
Yeah. Do I know you? No, but I know you.
And my kids and I are big fans of Who Smarded.
Oh, thanks. Maybe later.
First I want to talk about sandwiches.
Oh, okay. Uh, what's your name?
A most buddinsky. Most people call me bud.
Nice to meet you, bud. I take it.
You're a regular. Whenever I'm in town, I'm a long distance trucker.
That's my rig parked out back.
I've traveled the entire country, eating sandwiches everywhere you can think.
And one thing I found is that a lot of the same sandwiches have different names.
One person's hero is another person's hobby, or submarine or grinder or a wedge.
Whoa, I like the way you talk.
And eat. Most of all, I'd love to get to the bottom of all these different sandwich names.
Where do they come from?
What are the stories behind them and what differences are there if any?
Now you're talking turkey and ham and salami.
Oh yeah. It's time for a whiff of science and a bite of history, y'all.
Who's smart at? Who's smart at?
Who smart is it you? Is it me?
Is it science or history?
Listen up. Everyone, we're like smarting.
Lots of fun on who's smart at?
I wore winter boots every day for two years.
I hate climbing trees. I'm Deborah Goldstein, host of the podcast The Big Fib and half of those statements were indeed Fibs.
On every episode of The Big Fib, we bring on two grown-ups.
One is an expert and the other is a liar.
And it's the job of our human child contestant to help us figure out who is who, because no one can spot a liar better than a kid.
We've had episodes on everything from Minecraft to Mythology and from Lego to Libraries.
Join me and my robot co-host Lisa on The Big Fib on Apple Podcasts or on GZMshows.com.
Alright, bud. Since we're here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, let's start with why do they call their sandwiches hoggies?
Smarty Pins, see if you can guess.
Is the hoggies sandwich named after a popular dance move back in the day?
B, a famous musician and composer named hoggie Carmagel.
Sometimes I wonder what's the worst.
Or C, the sandwiches that workers from Italy made at the hogg island's Navy Shipyard.
So which is it, bud? The answer is C.
If you said the hogg island's Navy Shipyard, great job.
But also, what does it mean?
What's a hoggy? Although there are several different stories out there as to who came up with the original name, I like the one which takes place during the first World War at the Navy Shipyard referred to as hogg island.
The workers there were referred to as hoggies.
And the huge elaborate sandwiches they constructed and consumed for lunch became closely associated with them.
Also because the sandwiches were so big and piled so high and with so many items, people said you'd have to be a hog to finish it all.
And over time, the name changed from hoggy to hoggy and the hoggy sandwich was born.
You know, that sounds equal parts logical and ridiculous.
But I like it. Now if I were to head north of the Turnpike to New Jersey, joysy, what exit?
How about A-Day? Great.
Then we're talking blimpies.
Blimpies? Or a dirigible?
Or an airship you might see hovering above a football stadium during a big game?
Yep, exactly. I believe it was three friends from the town of Hobo, in New Jersey that decided to start a business together by creating oversized sandwiches that resembled the shape of a blimp.
Ah, of course, blimpies.
They were like subway sandwiches before subway existed.
From there, if we were to head east to say New York City, that's where you'd be looking to order a hero.
Yes, now we're talking.
As a New Yorker, my friends and I have always called and ordered big sandwiches on long rolls, heroes.
But while they're pretty heroic in the fight against hunger, I'm guessing there's a better story behind how the hero got its name.
Well, once again, I've heard different versions about the origin of the hero sandwich, but the one that seems most believable concerns a food columnist named Clementine Pattelworth.
For a food critic, that name isn't mouthful.
Haha, good one, trusty.
Clementine wrote for the newspaper called the New York Hero Tribune.
And in one of her reviews written in the year 1936, it was noted that a person would have to be a hero to finish the extra large sandwich he was describing in her column.
Wow, that's pretty cool.
Even cooler is the thought that the term Clementine coined in a food article from 1936 has stuck around until this day.
It just goes to show Smarty Pants, yet never know what word or phrase is going to stand the test of time.
And tummy. Continuing our sandwich tour, we'll head just north of New York City to an area called West Chester County.
Oh, I've been to West Chester a few times.
I grew up there. Oh, you win.
So, what are sandwiches called there?
Smarty Pants, see if you can guess.
Is it a log? A barge? Or a wedge?
A wedge. I gotta say, Smarty Pants, when you think of the word wedge, what comes to mind?
Are you thinking about a piece of wood or metal used to keep two things apart?
Or maybe that triangle thing that holds a door open?
Maybe a golf club or a kind of shoe?
And I'm not even going to mention a wedgie.
I gotta say, none of those sound very edible.
I hear you, but the story I heard growing up was that the wedge sandwich originated at a deli located in the city of Yonkers, known mostly for horse racing.
These deli owners were from Italy and spoke with thick Italian accents.
OK. But when customers came into the shop in order to sandwich, it was difficult for the owners to pronounce.
So what typically came out as sand wedge?
Ultimately it evolved into just the word wedge.
Amazing. I love hearing all the quirky behind the scenes reasons why the same sandwiches are called different things by region.
Yep. And speaking of different regions, we're going to continue heading northeast to Springfield, Massachusetts.
But we have one quick stop to make before that.
Two more sandwiches? Great.
We'll find out all about them right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors.
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And now back to who Smarted.
Okay, bud, where to next?
Grotten, New London, and Connecticut.
Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, isn't there a large naval facility located there?
There sure is. Hmm, Smirty pants.
Which of these Navy vessels do you think they specialize in making at this facility in Grotten, New London?
Is it A, aircraft carriers?
B, battleships. Or C, submarines.
If you said C, submarines, you're right.
Now, what could submarines have to do with sandwiches?
Legend has it that there was yet another deli.
This one located close to the Navy Yard.
During World War II, the base was filled with naval officers, hungry naval officers.
The base would order 500 sandwiches a day for lunch.
Whoa. That is a lot of sandwiches.
And guess what? Those sandwiches were all made with Italian bread that happened to be in the shape of something they made at the base.
Ooh, Smirty pants, can you guess what that was?
Did you say a submarine?
If so, you're right. Or even better.
Eventually, those sandwiches were simply referred to as subs.
Nice. I've definitely sunk a few subsanwiches in my past.
Okay, what does that leave us with?
Our final stop, Springfield, Massachusetts.
Wow, so these sandwiches really are mostly an East Coast thing, huh?
Well, there are sandwiches of many shapes and sizes from all over the world and all over the US.
But for these specific kind of deli sandwiches, yeah.
They all pretty much originated on the East Coast.
Okay, so we've done Hogi, Hero, Blimpi, Sub, and Wedge.
What's missing? What do you think, Smirty pants?
I can practically hear your brain's grinding as you think of the answer.
And I may or may not have just given you a huge hint as to what it's called.
One of the stories that's come down through the years explains why New Englanders called this kind of sandwich a grinder.
Did you get that, Smirty pants?
The last sandwich name is a grinder.
But I gotta say, this one is the least obvious.
The others at least make sense in terms of the shape or pronunciation of the sandwich.
What does a grinder or grinding something have to do with lunch?
I get your confusion, trusty.
Many say it has some connections to the sub in Connecticut.
The term grinder was used to describe the dockwork or sanding down and grinding the rusty hulls of ships so they could be repainted.
The grinder sandwich was named in honor of them.
Uh, okay. Others have said that the name came about due to the sandwich itself.
How's that? Well, we know that these types of sandwiches are typically piled high with all sorts of meats, cheeses, and delicious fixings and spreads.
And all that sandwich goodness requires a thick, strong bread to hold everything inside.
Okay, I'm buying all of that so far.
And with all those ingredients stuffed inside a sturdy bread, it can be difficult to chew through all that, which means your teeth have to work hard in grinding everything up in order for you to chew and swallow your sandwich.
Uh, hence the term grinder.
Bingo! Wow, I gotta say but all this talk about subs, heroes, hogis, wedges, blimps, and grinders sure has me psyched for my lunch today.
I bet. Woo, perfect timing!
There you go. Sorry for the wait, but I promise this hogie is worth the wait.
Thanks Mo, you're my hero.
And why is guy, huh? Hello!
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Thanks for smarting with us.
A double smarty shout out to Madeline and Benjamin in Muscogee, Oklahoma.
We're so happy to hear that you both love listening to Who's Smarded because it helps you learn new things and I am especially happy to hear that you both think the trusty narrator is hilarious.
Thanks you too. This episode's sandwiches was written by Dave Double Meets Davis and voiced by Mike Provalone Provedi, Adam Deli-Counter Davis and Jerry Colbert, technical direction and sound designed by Josh Hevy on the Mayo.
Our associate producer is Max Morte-Dadella Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Shredded lettuce Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Text Davis, who Smarded was created and produced by Adam Text Davis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an atomic entertainment production.
Hey listeners, want to know one of my favorite sounds?
Listen to this. That's the sound of learning a new language with Babel.
I've been using Babel to brush up on my German and it's Vunderbar how quickly I'm picking up real life conversation skills.
Babel is the science-backed language learning app that actually works.
Their quick 10 minute lessons are designed by over 200 language experts to help you start speaking a new language in as little as three weeks.
I can vouch that that is really how fast it is.
Plus, Babel's speech recognition technology has really helped improve my pronunciation recognition.
Yeah, that's his good. Here's a special deal for our listeners.
Right now, get up to 60% off your Babel subscription at Babel.com slash Smarded.
That's b-a-b-b-e-l.com slash Smarded.
Rules and restrictions may apply.
Don't miss this chance to learn a new language with Babel.
