An award-winning rom-com author who dared to have one of her characters order “a sub” from Wawa is taking some online heat, but she’s sticking to her guns, writes Emily Bloch from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
And Now, Back to You, a book from B.K. Borison, about two competing meteorologists in Baltimore, is winning general praise from the rom-com community, but people from Philadelphia and parts of the Northeast are pointing out a glaring error.
No one orders a sub from Delaware County-centric Wawa, they complain. The correct term is “hoagie.”
An X post that pointed out Borison’s word choice has been viewed over 280,000 times.
Borison strongly defends her decision on the word choice.
“This is by far the strangest internet conversation I’ve ever gotten myself involved in,” Borison said. “But I hold firm on the fact that a fictional character FROM BALTIMORE would never use the word HOAGIE, despite that being the name Wawa uses. I am remaining true to my Baltimore roots.”
A Google Search Trend analysis backs her up. It showed the word “sub” is used at a significantly higher rate in Baltimore than the word “hoagie.”
Read more of the reactions from hoagie supporters, B.K. Borison and Wawa in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Editor’s Note: This post was initially published on DELCO.Today in March 2026.
