"Wop" in 1908?

[Jonathan Lighter]

The cite provided by M-W is accurate, but I believe it represents an
obsolete, broader sense of "wop," more or less equivalent to current "jerk."

The earliest ex. to hand that unmistakably designates Italians (OED: 1910):

1909 _N.Y. Times_ (Feb. 23) 4: A crowd of men and boys followed four or five
Italians along Canal Street last night, tormenting them by calling them
"Waps" and "Ginneys" [both sic]. Finally near Orchard Street the Italians
turned to fight.

JL

--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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