Why do some people call green peppers ‘mangoes’?

It's one of those things that feels so weirdly Cincinnati. 

But it is actually a regional phenomenon that goes far past the Queen City and into several Midwest states.

It's such a thing that grocery stores have before advertised "green mango peppers" to appease both parties, the Indianapolis Star reported in 2017.

Why do some people from Cincinnati call green peppers 'mangoes'?

It's a question that has perplexed Cincinnati Enquirer's readers for years.

In 1973, Enquirer food editor Marie Ryckman had a reader's exchange column where people asked questions and shared recipes.

Diane Boland wrote to The Enquirer: "I've lived in Cincinnati (Reading) almost all my life and it is true that Reading is a German town but I never knew until about seven years ago, that a mango was anything but a mango! And there are more than just a 'few' Germans in Cincinnati. I really can't understand why a little thing like a mango and a pepper can be exasperating to anyone."

Jacquelyn Lyons wrote: "Your confrontation with the mango-green pepper issue kind of tickled me, for when I first came here from Louisiana twenty years ago, I too, was surprised to hear bell peppers called mangoes, as well as 'feesh' for fish and 'poosh' and 'boosh' for push and bush."

The Dictionary of American Regional English says Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana all use the name mango for green peppers. 

Indianapolis Star food writer Donna Segal set out in 1991 to answer this question, too.

"Food historian Karen Hess and author of Martha Washington’s Book of Cookery told Segal that in 18th-century England there was a demand for Indian-style pickles like fruit mangos stuffed with spices and kept in a vinegar brine. Mangoes weren’t available in England so they used substitutes such as green peppers. By way of English cookbooks printed in America, the recipe for stuffed mangoes using peppers spread across America," the Indianapolis Star wrote.