Comments on: Mango

By: PD

PD — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:44:43 +0000

My family moved from New York to Indiana (no, not witness relocation) when I was 12. At 13 I started working after school at the local grocery store where everyone, much to my confusion, called bell peppers “mangoes”. 50 years on, I appreciate your solving the mystery for me.

By: Ann

Ann — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:33:56 +0000

My 82 year old father, from Indiana, calls all peppers mangoes to this day

By: Bart

Bart — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:30:43 +0000

I grew up in Ohio, and my whole family called them Mango’s. Mother would make stuffed mango’s for dinner many times when I was a child. When I moved on in life and lived many places I quickly learned that this was an Ohio term. Thank You for finding out this problem!

By: Hamilton!

Hamilton! — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:58:44 +0000

stuffed or on a salad, we love our Mangos

By: Joan

Joan — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:16:56 +0000

I live in the Midwest – Iowa – and have never, ever, heard type of bell pepper called a mango. This must be the part of the Midwest that’s east of the Mississippi, and probably east of Illinois. :)

By: Only in Cincinnati… | wine me, dine me

Only in Cincinnati… | wine me, dine me — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:25:03 +0000

[...] cabbage and pickled, so the word evolved to mean a pickled or unpickled green pepper (thanks to The Word Detective for that [...]

By: Skillet Stuffed Peppers | A Simple Home Cook

Skillet Stuffed Peppers | A Simple Home Cook — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 03:34:12 +0000

[...] The Word Detective gave an explanation of why green peppers were referred to as mangoes. It has roots as far back as the colonial era when the mango fruit (“real” mangoes) were brought to this country in pickled form from Asia. Eventually, the term mango would refer to almost pickled food. Peppers were often stuffed with cabbage and pickled. Green peppers became known as mangoes or mango peppers. [...]

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:09:31 +0000

The older generation in my area, NE PA, also referred to the green pepper as a mango but as people became more educated and knowledgeable and of course more familiar with real mangoes this has diminished and really only heard by the older generation and even many of them have stopped once they became aware and I’m sure in some cases not to give away their age.

By: mango « One Peppercorn

mango « One Peppercorn — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:26:07 +0000

[...] mango may not be a pickle any more, but it is still, in the U.S., in Ohio and Indiana, a name for green peppers. Pickled Mangifera indica passed its name onto pickles more generically which, by 1948, had passed [...]

By: Dabbler

Dabbler — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:32:02 +0000

The use of “mango” to mean pickle wasn’t just an American quirk. The 1699 book that’s mentioned above is “Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets” by John Evelyn, published in England. Does anyone know how far back this usage goes?

By: Edward

Edward — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:11:14 +0000

This explanation is especially interesting to me because I grew up in the Midwest, but I never heard anyone except my mother and, by extension, my family call a green bell pepper a mango. I was not unpleasantly surprised when I moved to the United Arab Emirates and saw and ate my first “mango” as the sign in the street market described this especially tasty fruit.