Ok Boys and Girls, Lets not Get This Poofed
Ok here is an honest ethnic question:
Why are Italians sometimes referred as Dagos? Wops?
Just always wondered.
Why are Italians sometimes referred as Dagos? Wops?
Just always wondered.
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Here is something I found while googling your question:
"Oddly enough, the word "Dago", which is used slangily (and often in a derogatory sense) to mean someone of Italian heritage, comes from the Spanish name Diego. Spanish and Portugese sailors serving aboard English and American ships were called Dagos. Over the years, the term came to mean any southern European sailor, and since the late 1800s, it no longer refers to sailors or other Europeans, but simply means Italian. Who knows how these things evolve..."0 -
The same reason why.....well you don't want this pooooffed so I'l shut up.
BTW good luck. LOL[:D]0 -
According to the highly respected UrbanDictionary, Wop is an acronym for "WithOut Papers" referring to the illegal status of many italian immigrants.
"Dago" refers to the way in which italian laborers were paid - as the "day goes" or, basically, daily labor.
These are probably both wrong but its what 5 minutes of googling got me.0 -
quote:Originally posted by MT357
Ok here is an honest ethnic question:
Why are Italians sometimes referred as Dagos? Wops?
Just always wondered.
WOP's = WithOut Passport, i.e. Late 19th - early 20th century Ellis Island administrators' acronym[;)]
BTW, all four grandparents stepped off the boat from Italy.[:)] It was very interesting to look up their arrival in the Ellis Island archives on-line. Strange to see their names, the dates, the ship, etc.0 -
Cause there Dago singing that David Bowie song again!!!
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Dont let me hear you say lifes taking you nowhere, angel
Come get up my baby
Look at that sky, lifes begun
Nights are warm and the days are young
Come get up my baby
Theres my baby, lost thats all
Once Im begging you save her little soul
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Come get up my baby
Last night they loved you, opening doors and pulling some strings, angel
Come get up my baby
In walked luck and you looked in time
Never look back, walk tall, act fine
Come get up my baby
Ill stick with you baby for a thousand years
Nothings gonna touch you in these golden years, gold
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Come get up my baby
Some of these days, and it wont be long
Gonna drive back down where you once belonged
In the back of a dream car twenty foot long
Dont cry my sweet, dont break my heart
Doing all right, but you gotta get smart
Wish upon, wish upon, day upon day, I believe oh lord
I believe all the way
Come get up my baby
Run for the shadows, run for the shadows, run for the shadows in these golden years
Theres my baby, lost thats all
Once Im begging you save her little soul
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Come get up my baby
Dont let me hear you say lifes taking you nowhere, angel
Come get up my baby
Run for the shadows, run for the shadows
Run for the shadows in these golden years
Ill stick with you baby for a thousand years
Nothings gonna touch you in these golden years, gold
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop
Golden years, gold whop whop whop0 -
quote:Originally posted by Slow_Hand
quote:Originally posted by MT357
Ok here is an honest ethnic question:
Why are Italians sometimes referred as Dagos? Wops?
Just always wondered.
WOP's = WithOut Passport, i.e. Late 19th - early 20th century Ellis Island administrators' acronym[;)]
BTW, all four grandparents stepped off the boat from Italy.[:)] It was very interesting to look up their arrival in the Ellis Island archives on-line. Strange to see their names, the dates, the ship, etc.
Learning about family is highly enjoyable.0 -
How about "guinea?"
"Greaser" or "greaseball?"0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
How about "guinea?"
"Greaser" or "greaseball?"
Don't know!!! I've been called a Redneck Hick before and I don't even know where that one came from!!!
And while we are at where did all those necknames for people of your profession come from.... there are a ton of them!!!!0 -
quote:Originally posted by nunn
How about "guinea?"
"Greaser" or "greaseball?"
Yep. All those have been used, too.
But the term "greaseball" actually refers more to the low-class, sleazy, ne'er-do-well type of individual than to all Italians in general. Many Italians freely used that expression themselves to refer to Italians of questionable ilk and character.
On the East Coast, "greaser" was used primarily to describe young males in the 50's and 60's who slicked back their hair, maybe had a pompadour up top, a duck's arse in the back, etc. and who wore black chino pants, white T-shirt, black leather shoes. A la "West Side Story" if you will.
Not sure about the origin of "guinea" though.0 -
WOPs were not illegal. They were allowed to immigrate without needing the immigration papers that were normally required. We needed people and Italy had alot of poor. They came by the ship load as stearage, as it was called. When they arrived they were processed and accepted in. If you saw the movie Titanic, the Irish on board were comming across as stearage. 0 -
Why Are people called Wet Backs?
I always wondered why?0 -
I ask one of my friends who's ancestry is Italian what WOP meant, and he told me that was the sound they make when they are thrown up against a wall. This is honestly what he said, and what he was told when he asked. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by MVP
Why Are people called Wet Backs?
I always wondered why?
If I can answer this without getting in trouble.
It comes from just emerging from the river. (rio grande) after crossing illegally.
Allen0 -
quote:Originally posted by sarge_3ad
I ask one of my friends who's ancestry is Italian what WOP meant, and he told me that was the sound they make when they are thrown up against a wall. This is honestly what he said, and what he was told when he asked.
[:D]0 -
I never knew how the terms got started. I just called one of my college roommates, of Italian extraction, a wop and then ran, being that he was 6'4" and 275 and could put a serious hurt on me if he caught me. But of course I'd never call his beautiful mother or sisters such a name. 0 -
I have two african american friends and asked both of them a question. "Assuming the derogatory term "black person"(N word poofed here) is some derivative of the word Negro, What the H#ll is a Honkey or a Cracker and how are those terms supposed to be offensive to white people? They both laughed and said I was too stupid to know I had been insulted. BTW, I still haven't gotten an answer from them. 0 -
Why are so many Italians named, "Tony"?
Because when they got off the boat at Ellis Island, they had "To NY" written on their forehead.
And I can say that because I am Italian....0 -
Here's one...
What is a Cajun?
An Arkadian who forgot his roots and his duty.
It's not too late to Join the Army of Arkadian Reparations.[}:)]0 -
Where did the term "Gweedoe" come from ? 0 -
I read somewhere that the term "redneck" started with the Scotts-Irish who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1700's. They migrated westward (Kentucky, PA, TN, ect) to avoid the "Whiskey Tax". They were called rednecks because back in Ireland they wore red scarves around their necks. 0 -
I got some Italian tires once. Dago "WOP,WOP,WOP" when your'e driving down the road.[:D] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by minitruck83
quote:Originally posted by MVP
Why Are people called Wet Backs?
I always wondered why?
If I can answer this without getting in trouble.
It comes from just emerging from the river. (rio grande) after crossing illegally.
Allen
No, it comes from the hispanics being mostly field labor workers and having a sweaty back from working under the hot sun doing manual labor.0 -
quote:Originally posted by newtgingrich
quote:Originally posted by minitruck83
quote:Originally posted by MVP
Why Are people called Wet Backs?
I always wondered why?
If I can answer this without getting in trouble.
It comes from just emerging from the river. (rio grande) after crossing illegally.
Allen
No, it comes from the hispanics being mostly field labor workers and having a sweaty back from working under the hot sun doing manual labor.
Minitruck had it right. The term "undocumented alien" originated in Texas and came from the fact that Mexicans entering Texas illegally had to swim across the Rio Grande, thus entering the US with a wet back.
As to the terms Honky and Cracker here is what I found on Honky:
Honky, when used as a pejorative meaning white, was first used in 1967 by black militants within SNCC seeking a rebuttal for the term ******. They settled on a familiar word they felt was disparaging to certain Americans of European descent; hunkie meaning an American of Slavic or Hungarian descent.[1][2]
The word "honky" as a pejorative for caucasians comes from "bohunk" and "hunky". In the early 1900's, these were derogatory terms for Bohemian, Hungarian, and Polish immigrants. According to Robert Hendrickson, author of the Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, African-American workers in Chicago meat-packing plants picked up the term from white workers and began applying it indiscriminately to all Caucasians.
Cracker came from the slave days. It was a term used by slaves to descirbe the slave driver (usually white). The driver carried a whip and generally liked to use it. The whip, as you know, makes a cracking sound. Therefore, the driver was called the "Cracker".0 -
Reminds me of an old joke.
Dago Tire Company
Our moto,
Dago through mud,
Dago through sleet,
Dago through snow,
But when Dago flat,
Dago wop, wop, wop![:D]0 -
quote:Originally posted by nyforester
Where did the term "Gweedoe" come from ?
...Do you mean "Guido"? Beats me, but I had an Irish setter named Guido. (As in Father Guido Sarducci (sp?) from Saturday Night Live.)0 -
IIRC years ago I was told by my grandfather that the term "greaser" when used for those of mexican origin came from the late 1800s and early 1900s when they were employeed by the railroad companys to grease the pistons and wheels of the trains.
Dont know if it is true...but it sounded good to a young kid back then.0 -
Why does the Eye-tal-yun Air Force like helicopters so much ?
Because Dago, "WOP,WOP,Wop !!"[:D]0
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