"Wop" in 1908?

[Jonathan Lighter]

1884 Joshua S. Lawrence, "The Italians of New York," _Ballou's Monthly
Magazine_  LIX (May) 453: The Italian language...has given rise to the
nickname applied to the Italian women when speaking of "Guineas," as the
sounds emitted by them are similar to those made by guinea-fowl.

1887 _Brooklyn Eagle_ (Sept. 5) 4: Louica...showed fight and called Bianca a
guinea. Bianca drew a revolver and discharged...two shots at Louica.

So people were reduced to wild guesses as early as 1884.

JL

On Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 6:15 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Wop" in 1908?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm stumped by "mattress" too.  Bustles were out by '08, though that would
> have been my guess.  Anything earthier would presumably have been taboo
> in song from a prominent publisher like Witmark.
>
> Other than that, no suggestions.
>
> Walking like a "kangaroo" may humorously imply a springy step. Maybe.
>
> I wonder if Brockman inspired Chico Marx.  See photo on the cover of the
> sheet music.
>
> JL
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 5:16 PM, Baker, John M. <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Baker, John M." <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "Wop" in 1908?
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >        What do the lyrics mean when they say that his ex-girlfriend has
> > "got big mattress and a blond-a curl"?  Presumably it's not the literal
> > meaning of "mattress."  I'm also a bit bemused to see the assertion that
> > she "walk joust like a big Kangaroo," in a context that seems to imply
> > that this would be an attractive thing to do.
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> > Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2010 4:54 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: Re: "Wop" in 1908?
> >
> > James Brockman's novelty song, "Wop, Wop, Wop!" (N.Y.: Witmark, 1908
> > [but
> > actually copyright Feb. 3, 1909]) may have helped popularize the word.
> >
> > Acc. to the N.Y. _Eve. Telegram_ (July 29, 1909)  (findable here if
> > you've
> > got lots of time:
> > http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html<http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fu
> > lton.html>
> > ),
> > it was "one of the quaintest Italian novelty songs of the many that have
> > been offered to the public the last two or three years. It is by no less
> > a
> > person than Mr. James Brockman [1886-1967: ed.], the well known writer
> > and
> > composer.
> >
> > "The story, told in a serio-comic way, tells of the troubles of an
> > Italian,
> > whose feelings are injured by the various nicknames given him in this
> > country, and deals with his efforts in trying to prevent being called
> > first
> > 'Dago,' then 'Guinie,' and last of all, 'Wop.'
> >
> > "Mr. Brockman has set the words to a tuneful and pleasing little melody
> > that
> > makes it a particularly bright song for a part of the social programme."
> >
> >  Check out the lyrics. They imply that "wop" was something new:
> > http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100004968/pageturner.h
> > tml?page=2&section=&size=640
> >
> > JL
> >
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