One of the first thing I noticed when I moved to the United States was the huge amount of Italian food words written and/or pronounced incorrectly. Some of them have been misused for so long that have become neologisms.

Here is a short list of misspelled and misused words in which I came across by shopping at the grocery, dining at the restaurant or reading cookbooks:

Capicola instead or Capocollo.
Capicola doesn’t exist, in Italy we have Capocollo, or Capicollo or Coppa.

Prosciutto De Parma instead of Prosciutto Di Parma.

Linguini, Fettuccini, instead or Linguine , Fettuccine.
There is always an i as a final letter, maybe because in English e sounds like the Italian i.

– Gnocchi (Italian: [ˈɲɔkki]) are called GHnocchi , perhaps because in English there is no sound corresponding to the Italian GN.

Bruscietta instead of Bruschetta.
This dish is written correctly but incorrectly pronounced.

Panini, Salami, Scaloppini, Cannoli instead of Panino , Salame, Scaloppina or Cannolo
The plural is used even if it relates to a single unit

– Lasagna often pronounced Lasanya, refers to the entire dish of Lasagne. In Italian Lasagna is the singular noun and Lasagne is the plural.

Osso Bucco instead of Osso Buco.

– Zucotto instead of Zuccotto

– Quattro Formaggio instead of Quattro Formaggi

Penne Arabiatta instead of Penne all’Arrabbiata

Pepperoni: in English refers to a spiced sliced salame, but in italian doesn’t even exist. In Italy we have peperoni, the green, yellow or red vegetables.

Biscotti: in English refers to the Italian Cantucci. Any other kind of Italian Biscotto is called cookie.

Mortadella or Bologna sometimes refers to another cold meat.