The derogatory term "wop" used to slur Italians and Italian Americans does not come from "Without Papers". It makes no sense to say this since Italian immigrants were not the only foreigners who occasionally came to the US without the necessary documents. Why single them out?? Instead, the term comes from the Neapolitan word "Guappo" which means even today a person who demands respect. Perhaps Americans heard Italians call each other "Guappo" and took over the term, changing it from a compliment to an insult. At any rate, this explanation makes more sense that "without papers."
The word "WOP" is the English pronunciation of the Ital-Neapolitan word "GUAPPO". The word defines those who belong to the Guapperia "Camorra", a criminal organization similar to the Sicilian Mafia located mostly in the province of Campania (an Italian Province) and its capital Napoli, Italia. It is now used as a derogatory term for those of Italian decent in America and is said to stand for "Without Papers" meaning illegal immigrant.
"Wop" is considered an offensive term and racial slur towards people of Italian descent. It is not appropriate or acceptable to use in any context.
"Guinea" or "Guinny" is said to be the most vile racial slur that can be used against an Italian-American. Refers to the Guinea Coast of Africa; using this slur is a very offensive way of implying that Italian-Americans are non-whites (something we tend to get very defensive about!!). Unlike the "N-word", which African-Americans sometimes use to address each other, no Italian-American would ever address another Italian-American using this word. Nor would they use the word "WOP" (also offensive, but not in a racial way). HOWEVER, it IS common for Italian-Americans to refer to each other as "dego" or "dago"; this is used the same way that blacks use the N-word with each other.
ginny, wop
It is a derogatory term for an Italian adopted into American English slang soon after 1900. It may come from a Southern Italian dialect "Guappo" meaning a dandy
The word "WOP" is the English pronunciation of the Ital-Neapolitan word "GUAPPO". The word defines those who belong to the Guapperia "Camorra", a criminal organization similar to the Sicilian Mafia located mostly in the province of Campania (an Italian Province) and its capital Napoli, Italia. It is now used as a derogatory term for those of Italian decent in America and is said to stand for "Without Papers" meaning illegal immigrant.
"Wop" is considered an offensive term and racial slur towards people of Italian descent. It is not appropriate or acceptable to use in any context.
The term wop originated as an acronym, WOP, which stands for With Out Papers. Some Italian immigrants arrived in the US without a passport of birth certificate, and therefore were without papers, which is a bureaucratic complication. Immigrants need to be able to establish their legal identity. Ironically, the term wop is still used even for people of Italian descent who were born in the US and obviously have all the usual documents.
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.
WOP, Guinea, Dago
the wop
Wop is an acronym which stands for "with out papers" so the term would suggest that Italians were illegals, or not real citizens.
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."
A "wimba wop" is a term popularized in the children's song "Wimba Wop," which encourages participation and movement through its catchy melody and playful lyrics. Often associated with classroom activities or children's performances, it typically involves clapping and singing along. The term itself is whimsical and does not have a specific definition outside of its use in the song.
The Do Wop was created in 1997.