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Comment by thomasfedb | Hacker News Reader

Is it only Americans that call a pizza 'pie'?

As an Australian it sounds wrong, very wrong - a pie has dished sides and filling, not just topping.

New Yawker here: It's mainly a NY thing (and probably throughout the northeast) used to describe a whole pizza vs individual slices. Though it's rare to hear someone use the phrase "pizza pie" as it gets shortened to "pie". When I order pizza I always ask "gimme a pie to go" and I get a whole pizza.

You know I love what your city did with pizza. I love how much it has influenced pizza around the world.

However I'm getting tired of seeing NY-style pizza shops opening up here in central Ohio. Some chain that focuses on NY-style relocated their headquarters here (from previously being in NY!).

We've already got our own style (central Ohio, wider Ohio region as far as I know). I don't want poor imitations of NY style taking over.

Sure Sbarro’s are starting to pop up more but that’s largely just because they want to compete with the other chains. The only one of those doing an Ohio style pizza being Donatos.

Decent NY style pizza can be found here as well though. Sarefino’s at North Market does a pretty good job. There’s not any risk to Ohio style pizza as far as I can tell though, the overwhelming majority of independent pizza places still serve this almost exclusively.

"the overwhelming majority of independent pizza places still serve this almost exclusively"

The old neighborhood independent ones, sure. But newer developments (that aren't just catering to campus) are seemingly all NY-style.

To be honest I'm probably less annoyed with having the option than I am with that we have our own stuff, so let's celebrate that instead of copying NY and LA and being a purely derivative culture.

If I want NY-style pizza, I'm going to NY. Anything else is a poor imitation.

What’s Ohio style

I would qualify that by saying that only in some areas of the US is a pizza called a pie. I never heard that term until I was an adult. I would say it's probably limited to the northeast and perhaps Chicago.

Lifelong Chicagoan, we never use the word pie. That's a New York / east coast thing.

pizza means pie in italian

https://www.etymonline.com/word/pizza

As an Italian, I've never heard anyone use "pizza" as a synonym for pie, which is "torta".

Can't say I've ever bothered to look up pizza in a dictionary before, but here we are.

dictionary.com has this to say about the word pizza: a flat, open-faced baked pie of Italian origin, consisting of a thin layer of bread dough topped with spiced tomato sauce and cheese, often garnished with anchovies, sausage slices, mushrooms, etc.

And the dictionary that comes with MacOS claims the origin of the word pizza is Italian, litterally 'pie'.

<shrug>

Neither do I, or anyone I know of. Pizza meant "pie" originally, at least until 1700, but that meaning has long gone. If the american translation is old enough it did have a point

Uhoh, I always thought torta was a sandwich. That is what I order from a local Mexican restaurant... The joy of overloaded words.

I'm from the US - we always refer to pizza as, well, pizza. Pie is something that is usually (but not always) sweet. The closest reference I have from childhood is a song talking about "pizza pie".

Apparently the US does not have meat pies, or at least they are not ubiquitous like here in Australia.

you are correct :)

I mean, there are a few, and likely more that are local in areas. I think they used to be more popular: For example, I found a salmon meringue pie recipe in an old pie cookbook my grandmother had. But alas, most folks will think more of cherry or apple than meaty goodness.

Also pie is made of pastry, pizza is made of bread dough. I thought the title was a mistake or something.

A pizza is an open faced sandwich.

A pie is a close-sided sandwich.

Pumpkin pie isn’t closed, at least, not from my experience.

There is a style of pizza native to America which has dished sides and filling.

Which deviates so far from pizza, it ought just be called Chicago pie.

Hehe, I’m going to chuckle if we get a “Deep Dish isn’t pizza” fight going on HN.

There are a few other non-Chicago “pies” or Deep Dish styles as well. https://slice.seriouseats.com/2008/01/a-list-of-regional-piz...

It’s a delicious casserole.

Yes, it is. In the rest of the world it's called a pizza because that's what it is.

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