What ethnic group does WASP stand for?

Answer 1

The acronym stands for White Anglo saxon Protestant or Anglo-Americans.

Actually, in the United States, the term has been misused. Anglo-Saxon actually refers to two European tribes, the Angles and Saxons who populated pre-1066 England and originated on the coastline of what was northwestern continental Europe. In the US, most Americans of western European extraction were lumped together under the banner of White Anglo Saxon Protestant or WASPs. In time, as the Scandinavians, Germans, French, Swiss, Dutch, Belgians, Danes, and Austrians assimilated with the English, Welsh, and Scots they have have been included in the quasi-ethnic, religious group known as WASPs because of their similar appearance. Because the Irish also bear a similar appearance to the WASPs, they became known as WASCs, or White Anglo Saxon Catholics. Today, few Americans even know what the terms mean, which is ironic because the majority of "white" Americans are descended from the WASPs and WASCs. In fact, approximately half of all America during the second world war were Germans alone.