Misspelled And Misused Italian Food Words

One of the first thing I noticed when I moved to the United States was the huge amount of Italian food words written and/or pronounced incorrectly. Some of them have been misused for so long that have become neologisms.

Here is a short list of misspelled and misused words in which I came across by shopping at the grocery, dining at the restaurant or reading cookbooks:

– Capicola instead or Capocollo. Capicola doesn’t exist, in Italy we have Capocollo, or Capicollo or Coppa.

– Prosciutto De Parma instead of Prosciutto Di Parma.

– Linguini, Fettuccini, instead or Linguine , Fettuccine. There is always an i as a final letter, maybe because in English e sounds like the Italian i.

– Gnocchi (Italian: [ˈɲɔkki]) are called GHnocchi , perhaps because in English there is no sound corresponding to the Italian GN.

– Bruscietta instead of Bruschetta. This dish is written correctly but incorrectly pronounced.

– Panini, Salami, Scaloppini, Cannoli instead of Panino , Salame, Scaloppina or Cannolo The plural is used even if it relates to a single unit

– Lasagna often pronounced Lasanya, refers to the entire dish of Lasagne. In Italian Lasagna is the singular noun and Lasagne is the plural.

– Osso Bucco instead of Osso Buco.

– Zucotto instead of Zuccotto

– Quattro Formaggio instead of Quattro Formaggi

– Penne Arabiatta instead of Penne all’Arrabbiata

– Pepperoni: in English refers to a spiced sliced salame, but in italian doesn’t even exist. In Italy we have peperoni, the green, yellow or red vegetables.

– Biscotti : in English refers to the Italian Cantucci. Any other kind of Italian Biscotto is called cookie.

– Mortadella or Bologna sometimes refers to another cold meat.