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Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2004 13:40:02 +1000
Reply-To: H-NET Urban History Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Mark Peel <[log in to unmask]>
Organization: Monash University
Subject: Origin of the term 'wop' in the United States
To: [log in to unmask]
X-AOL-IP: 209.119.0.109
From: Andrew Lemer <[log in to unmask]>
A colleague recently suggested that the disparaging term "wop" used (in
the U. S. only?) to refer to Italian immigrants and those of Italian
descent
stems from the mode of entry of many of these immigrants in the late
19th and early 20th Centuries: "without papers."
My dictionaries (Webster, Random House) refer to Sicilian dialect
"guapo" as a source, suggesting perhaps a less negative connotation
(although some authorities indicate the translation is "thug"), but
ignore or only
hypothesize the transformation to "wop." OED2 is cited (did not check
it myself) as tracing the first appearance to 1912, with an initial
spelling "wap," seemingly supporting the linguistic origin.
Prof. Kim Pearson (The College of NJ) offers similar information, but
comments also on the "without papers" explanation, attributing it to
largely unreliable and often Internet-based sources. Prof. Pearson's
assessment appears high on a Google search for the term and is
representative of other comments I found.
Does anyone on H-Urban have insights to offer?
Andrew C. Lemer, Ph. D.
the MATRIX group, LLC
(independent scholar)
Baltimore, MD