The word 'dago' is a derivative of the Spanish name 'Diego', which means 'James'. It was originally coined in the 17th century by British sailors to indicate Spanish or Portuguese people, especially sailors. Despite the hispanic origin of the word, in the 19th century the word 'dago' became more commonly used in the USA as a derogatory term for Italians, due to the large Immigration from that country. However, it is still used to indicate Spanish or Portuguese people as well, but rarely the French. The word 'wop' is derived from 'without official papers', which was a comment that was written by US immigration officials in their records, with reference to poorer Italian immigrants who entered the USA without passports or any other means of identification. It then became a derogatory name for Italians or those of Italian origin in general, within the USA. Rarely used in other English speaking countries.
These are very offensive ethnic slurs and should never be used at all.
A racial slur
When immigrants were coming to the United States many of them did not have proper paperwork, such as visas, passports etc. WOP was written in the log books for such persons. WOP meant = With Out Papers. JB
It is a slang word and offensive to a member of a Latin race, especially Italian, Spanish and Portuguese
according to http://www.answers.com/dago, it is an alteration of Spanish name Diego. As a slur, it was originally directed at those of Spanish descent. When and why it was redirected to Italians is anyone's guess.According to a 2 hour documentary on the Italians in America, many of the 1st immigrants could barely speak the English language. Therefore, many became cheap laborers. Day-Laborers they were refered to. Then, those Day-o's became Dagos! I struggled for years to find that out! I just found out TODAY how they got to be called "guineas"!
got one chopped off
Wop is an English transliteration of the common Neapolitan dialect term "Guap" meaning "handsome." Its use is often intentionally ironic, and is used much more frequently by men than by women. Pronounced "wop," this term is still in common causal use today by rural southern Italians who neither emigrated to the US nor at any time had any contact with U.S. Immigration Officials, a fact which discredits the popular notion that "wop" is derived from "without papers." Dominated by Spanish-speaking Bourbons in the 18th century, Naples and much of southern Italy absorbed numerous Spanish terms into local dialects. "Guap" is a clipping of the Spanish word for "handsome" which is "guapo." It was brought by southern Italian immigrants to the United States, particularly to the New York area, by young Italian men who used it either with brotherly irony when hailing their often dishelved compatriots, or as a friendly term of encouragement. Similarly, ironic use of the term "hey handsome" in English used to be common among young American men when greeting friends who looked anything but handsome, sometimes due to a heavy hangover or to the typical romantic or financial disappointments of their age group. The oftentold and somewhat farfetched misinterpretation of "wop" is that WOP stands for "Without Papers" and was specifically directed at turn of the century (early 1900`s) Italian immigrants who came to Ellis Island in New York Harbor which at the time was designated as the Nation's Immigration Station a U.S. Federal run entity that determined who would be allowed to legally immigrate into the United States of America. Immigrants who did not have correct immigration documentation paperwork or no immigration paperwork at all..........had "WOP" written in large white letters on the back of their clothing (usually a wool coat) by U.S Immigration Officials so that these individuals could be easily identified. These individuals were not allowed to enter the mainland (New York) and were held against their will at Ellis Island until they were deported back to their country of origin. The "without papers" theory for the origin of the term speculates that being that most of these individuals spoke little or no English made it easy for U.S. Immigration Officials to use a "written designation" such as "WOP" on these individuals` backs and deport these people who really didn't understand what was about to happen to them. The vast majority of immigrants had papers, and were not permitted to book passage from Europe without documents, since the steamship lines did not want unpaid passengers returning from the U.S. The term "wop" is also used among Italian immigrants in Argentina, a nation to which more southern Italians emigrated than to the U.S. during the 20th Century. Interestingly, the term "wop" is not common among Italians in San Francisco and nearby parts of California, who tended to originate from central and northern Italian provinces which were never controlled by a Spanish-speaking nobility. Immigrants from such central and northern towns as Lucca, Lodi, and Torino brought their own dialects of course but these did not include the term "guap."
WOP, Guinea, Dago
the wop
Charles Dago was born on 1975-11-01.
Red wine, usually home brewed. "Dago" is a derogatory term for Italians.
Red wine, usually home brewed. "Dago" is a derogatory term for Italians.
Ananias Leki Dago was born on 1970-11-02.
Duvier del Dago Fernandez was born in 1976.
Blaise Dago Adou was born on 1985-03-11.
The Do Wop was created in 1997.
WOP by J-Dash
The cast of Dago - 2001 includes: Domingo Matayosi Luis Sosa Arroyo
No. Wop is not an acceptable Scrabble word.