Although ordering gabagool at a typical restaurant might earn you some furrowed brows, doing the same in a region with a large Italian-American population, like New Jersey would get you a platter of capicola in no time. The word ‘gabagool’ was born when multiple Italian dialects merged and it is just a mutation of the word ‘capicola’, spoken with a very specific accent.

Italian-Americans — those responsible for the notorious term gabagool — speak an Italian that is nowhere near Standard Italian, claims Atlas Obscura. Regardless of the language's progression, Italian-Americans on the East Coast can all agree that gabagool is capicola.

Over the years the Italian language in America has morphed into something new, and Italian-Americans continue to celebrate their heritage by not always speaking the language, but as Dan Nosowitz of Atlas Obscura puts it, "putting on an antiquated accent for a dead sub-language to order some cheese." or, cured meat in this case.