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Re: QUERY: Red Wop
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Sacco and Vanzetti was the name of the most popular factory in the Soviet Union. They were making pencils. I believe it still exists.
Best, Vladimir M.
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From: Jerry Friedman <jerryfriedman1@GMAIL.COM>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 8:30:41 PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] QUERY: Red Wop
Brian Boyd says in /Nabokov's Pale Fire/, p. 204, "her 'powder'-'red wop' calls up in a flash an immigrant anarchist planting a bomb."
Wikipedia says, "The men [Sacco and Vanzetti] were followers of Luigi Galleani, an Italian anarchist who advocated revolutionary violence, including bombing and assassination. Galleani published Cronaca Sovversiva (Subversive Chronicle), a periodical that advocated violent revolution, and an explicit bomb-making manual called La Salute è in voi!. At the time, Italian anarchists ranked at the top of the American government's list of dangerous enemies and had been identified as suspects in several violent bombings and assassination attempts..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti
I associate anarchism with black more than red, but that may not be relevant.
The only similar term I know for cheap Italian red wine is "dago red", and I think I know that mostly from /M*A*S*H/.
Jerry Friedman
On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 12:33 PM, Matthew Roth <MRoth@messiah.edu> wrote:
A simple query. VN, we are told, found "delightful" the mirror words powder and "red wop." What does red wop mean? I read somewhere that it was slang word for cheap Italian wine. Is that right? If so, why is this particular inversion delightful? Is there some connection between powder and wine that I'm missing?
>
>Thanks,
>Matt Roth
>
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Best, Vladimir M.
________________________________
From: Jerry Friedman <jerryfriedman1@GMAIL.COM>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Thu, February 18, 2010 8:30:41 PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] QUERY: Red Wop
Brian Boyd says in /Nabokov's Pale Fire/, p. 204, "her 'powder'-'red wop' calls up in a flash an immigrant anarchist planting a bomb."
Wikipedia says, "The men [Sacco and Vanzetti] were followers of Luigi Galleani, an Italian anarchist who advocated revolutionary violence, including bombing and assassination. Galleani published Cronaca Sovversiva (Subversive Chronicle), a periodical that advocated violent revolution, and an explicit bomb-making manual called La Salute è in voi!. At the time, Italian anarchists ranked at the top of the American government's list of dangerous enemies and had been identified as suspects in several violent bombings and assassination attempts..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacco_and_Vanzetti
I associate anarchism with black more than red, but that may not be relevant.
The only similar term I know for cheap Italian red wine is "dago red", and I think I know that mostly from /M*A*S*H/.
Jerry Friedman
On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 12:33 PM, Matthew Roth <MRoth@messiah.edu> wrote:
A simple query. VN, we are told, found "delightful" the mirror words powder and "red wop." What does red wop mean? I read somewhere that it was slang word for cheap Italian wine. Is that right? If so, why is this particular inversion delightful? Is there some connection between powder and wine that I'm missing?
>
>Thanks,
>Matt Roth
>
Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options
All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.
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/