Italian immigrants may have brought pizza to the United States, but the country’s most beloved topping, pepperoni, is an entirely American concept. Peperoni (with a single “p”) means a large pepper in Italian. Pepperoni (double “p”) means... absolutely nothing. What Americans call pepperoni might be called salame piccante, a generic term meaning “spicy salami” in Italy, explains travel writer Geraldine DeRuiter. DeRuiter, whose mother moved to the US from Italy, says she always thought it was weird that kids were excited about a pepper-topped pizza growing up.

But, of course, they weren’t: the kids were excited about the spicy, greasy, crisp-edged wonder that makes up the dried sausage of mixed pork, beef, and spices—specifically peppers, where the name came from. Pepperoni dots the top more than a third of pizzas sold in the country. It’s not surprising, given that pepperoni is America’s default pizza setting. Every pizza advertisement on television, every artistic rendering, even the pizza emoji, comes with the big red circles representing the stuff.