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Re: QUERY: Red Wop Explained
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To answer Matt Roth's query about the meaning of "red wop." It has
nothing at all to do with red wine. From the way VN expressed it to me, he
obviously meant an Italian with a red face. Now to the etymology of "wop." .
In 1976 Mrs. Carl (Mary Josephine) D'Alvia of Croton-on-Hudson, NY,
published a book, The History of the New Croton Dam, an enormous structure
completed in the early 20th century to add to New York City's water supply.
It was built by stone-cutters and masons brought over from Italy by a
padrone.. When the immigrants got off the boat, as Mrs. D'Alvia notes on page
97, the padrone handed each of them $25 because they landed "with out
passage" money, abbreviated "W. O..P." and soon the pejorative "wop" for an
Italian.
Robert H. Boyle .
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nothing at all to do with red wine. From the way VN expressed it to me, he
obviously meant an Italian with a red face. Now to the etymology of "wop." .
In 1976 Mrs. Carl (Mary Josephine) D'Alvia of Croton-on-Hudson, NY,
published a book, The History of the New Croton Dam, an enormous structure
completed in the early 20th century to add to New York City's water supply.
It was built by stone-cutters and masons brought over from Italy by a
padrone.. When the immigrants got off the boat, as Mrs. D'Alvia notes on page
97, the padrone handed each of them $25 because they landed "with out
passage" money, abbreviated "W. O..P." and soon the pejorative "wop" for an
Italian.
Robert H. Boyle .
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/