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 .