What do you call it?
All of the above + wedge (a NY thing)
In Philly a grinder is a hot hoagie
Hero is reputed to come from the Greek sandwich Gyro, pronounced Hero, but you usually have to pronounce it like a spinning thing to get one
Also, around here, you order the traditional Italian Sub by calling it an Italian
I wanted to say “grinder” since that’s what they called it in the town where I grew up. There was a local “House of Pizza and Grinders” on the town square. But in actuality, nowadays I call them all subs.
I call subs subs, and I call hoagies hoagies. They’re not quite the same thing: The bun is sliced differently. Of the two styles of slice, I prefer hoagies, since they’re easier to eat with one hand.
When I was growing up in Massachusetts in the '50s we called them Italian Club Sandwiches and, if there were no Italians in the vacinity, wop sandwiches.
I think of a grinder as a mixture of meats. Turkey, ham, salami etc.
A sub can be one meat or two. More meat and it’s a grinder to me.
On Long Island, ‘Sub’ is pretty common thanks to Blimpies (initially) and then Subway (and I suppose Quiznos, although they seem to be in full retreat now from Long Island). However, most delis tend to use the phrase ‘Heros’ (‘want that on a Roll or Hero?’) both vocally and on signage, and most supermarkets label the bread as ‘hero’ or ‘hero-roll’, so I tend toward Hero. (‘Give me a chicken cutlet hero’ - which often has some silly deli name like ‘Woodchopper’ or ‘The Clucker)’. Heh, the ‘Mr Hero’ chain (come back to Long Island Mr Hero and bring your delicious Philly Cheese Steaks and Waffle fries with you) seems to use the phrase Sub sandwiches.
Hmm, the Burger King chicken sandwich seems to fit the definition of a ‘hero’, but they just call it a sandwich.
I never hear anyone around here call it a hoagie (considered very Philadelphia, although I guess South and Central Jersey might use that phrase a lot), and grinder just seem silly and isn’t used by any sane person in real life.
Grew up and still live in Queens, NYC here.
I never heard anything but “hero” for the “long roll sandwiches” until I was about 16 years old, when I was mystified by a conversation I had with a friend from NJ. I had known him all his life - he was only 2 years younger than me - but one day he said he wanted to go out and get a “hoagie”. After 5 minutes of conversation it became apparent to me what he wanted was a “hero”. But for him, he was familiar with the term “hero” and distinguished the two as “hoagie” for cold meats and “hero” for hot (he’d think of a meatball parm hero, but a salami/cappy ham with provolone “hoagie”).
Haven’t heard “sub” myself in oral use around here, though I’ve seen it in signage for places calling themselves “sub shops” - mostly chains (like Subway or Blimpie’s). When I visited the Philly/south Jersey area I heard the term more. Though “sub” was just as common - such as this place in Atlantic City.
I’ve heard that “grinder” is a term used in New England but have yet to actually encounter its live use. I think of it as the same sort of place where they’d call a milk shake a “cabinet” - one of those trivia question answers that I’ve never seen in action.
Growing up, I’d say wedge (Ossining NY family) and hoagie, maybe grinder (though for some reason I only associate that with a hot sandwich like meatball).
These days I guess Subway has made “sub” the standard name.
Some interesting stuff here on “History and etymology.”
I thought ‘sub’ came from ‘submarine’, not ‘subway’. 
I consider all of those names to be for different things, not different names for the same type of sandwich.
-XT
I always called them subs but have heard hero used sometimes. I only heard grinder when I lived in the midwest.
ETA: Sub does come from Submarine sandwich, Subway comes from sub sandwich not the other way around.
Generally I call them heroes. Subs are secondary. Also heard around these parts: blimpie.
Weird…‘hero’ is usually referring to a gyro (pronounced similarly), and is a Greek sandwich with lamb on pita bread with a cucumber sauce (some great gyro places in New York).
Isn’t Blimpie a sandwich joint? Maybe that’s why they use that term.
-XT
It is, but “Subway Subs” are heavily marketed that way, as are “Quizno Subs” so some people who called them something else might have adopted the use of sub after they’ve seen so many ads for them.
I’m aware that these other names exist, but, like robardin said, I’ve only heard “sub” out in the wild. The other names appear in books and on TV shows, mostly.
I call them sandwiches.
Maybe it’s a Pop/Soda regional sort of thing - Long Island (and NYC too, possibly Westchester - I don’t recall) uses ‘Hero’ as any sort sandwich w/ deli meat (well, veggies too) in a long baked roll (this includes Chicken Cutlets - my favorite - and Meatball Heros too). Any longish roll, from small ‘six-inch’ to those 8 foot long ones you get for parties, are heros - nuff said. Subs is also an acceptable term, and common in the chains.
Gyros are …Gyros - Chicken Gyros, and just plain Gyros (which are lamb…we think)
Yep, and they were common around Long Island (NY) well before Subway was. They still exists, not as common as they once were.
This. Although I may take creative license with Ronald’s suggestion and call them wop sandwiches from now on. Or even wop-wiches. 
Yeup, I’m NYC born and bred and now reside on Lawn Guylan. Where heroes are pronounced as if they were Superman and Gyros spin 'round and 'round.
Also, gyros are not heros. Gyros are pitas filled with ground lamb, lettuce, tomatoes, raw onions and yogurt sauce.
We don’t have heroes or hoagies but I was under the impression they were just regionalisms for subs.
Grinders are on a different kind of bread than subs, and usually warm (though with places like Subway these days warm subs are hardly odd either), and the bread is always toasted. At least that’s how it’s been any place I’ve been that’s sold grinders.