Wop
Where does the derogatory word WOP come from?
Also.. be sure to check out the WhiteSmoke program.. as you can download it for free now!
Where does the derogatory word WOP come from?
Also.. be sure to check out the WhiteSmoke program.. as you can download it for free now!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEA9xStDwg4
Marina, on the “Coast To Coast” radio program last night (Sat) on KFI, the guest was Philip Carlo, author of “Confessions of a Mafia Boss” and other books. On the show, Philip mentioned several times convincingly that “WOP” stood for “With Out Passport / Papers”
http://www.philipcarlo.com/
You and I and prospero811 and others know that “With Out Passport / Papers” is a false etymology. I know that you do not discuss politics as it is divisive and etymologies has it’s own political issues and the emotional comments can be seen below.
As prospero811 has already mentioned that the false etymology came after the fact and from listening to the radio show, I might speculate that there may have been either a conscientious or subconscious effort to change the meaning of “WOP” in the 1920s to something less derogatory perhaps via the mafia and then political channels.
Request:
Is it possible to make a video on how words become transformed through false etymologies whereby the false etymologies eventually become canonized as true meanings through war, politics or other means? Maybe chose a few words that you are aware of that are examples of this. Thank you for your wonderful efforts and great videos.
P.S. (Thinking out loud)
I light of the emotional outcries against the false etymologies, how do you see popular authors who spread false etymologies either intentionally or ignorantly? What can be done? Or, is it that the pen indeed is mightier that the sword? Should authors be responsible? I guess, once the horse is out of the barn, there might be little that can be done?
One time, long ago I read about when the USA annex parts of Mexico and many habitants became citizens without papers, thus what lead to California. And so much more.
My would be “Kraut”, after the sourkraut eaters.
Never knew about that WOP word before.
Round these ‘ere parts, we Country Bumkins get riddiculed by the townies for drinking cider and discussing how to make butter….or at least thats what they say.
Thankfully living so close to Henley I hear the words Snob and Toff quite alot, which is cool as means of good stock. This class system has just gotta stop!!! Posh is a state of mind as with anything really.
cracker
I kind of have 2 ethnicities I am white and I have red hair. so a slang word or phrase for me would be “a red headed step child.”
Love
TheDragon
POOR WHITE TRASH
Wop,Wop stands for “women on pill” they are actually time release pregnancy pills, sorry ladies “splish splash”
As an Italian-American of Sicilian descent, I can state for a fact that Marina couldn’t be more wrong about this word’s origin and meaning. Her cultural ignorance of Italians is quite glaring to anybody of similar background to me.
Wop is an acronym for ‘With Out Papers’. It pre-dates passports, and has to do with Italian immigrants not having the proper papers supposedly to enter the country back in the Ellis Island days. That Marina is so clueless about the ‘papers’ thing instead of the ‘passport’ thing goes to show how flawed this lesson is.
As for ‘wop’ originating among the Italian language, that is just a shot in the dark by a confused philologist. Wop is a word used by non-Italian Americans to describe Italian American immigrants. Italians don’t go around calling each other wops because respect means a lot in the culture. You come at me with respect, or you don’t come at me at all, else you might not like the consequences, especially when you are dealing with those of a Sicilian bloodline. Capice?
And Marina must not have encountered many Italian or Italian American men, else she’d know they don’t go around getting ’supported’ by women, whether it be one woman, two women, or many women. In Italian culture, the man is in charge and the man is the head of the family, mindful of the family. Letting a woman call the shots or treating a woman badly is not respected at all in the Italian American culture, and an Italian American man doing such would lose face and/or feel ashamed of himself for doing such.
I think at this point Marina should ask herself how she’d react to somebody putting forth lessons about Russian Americans that are way off the mark and wholly ignorant of the society/culture therein. It’s not intelligent, it’s not sexy, and it’s not even a lesson. Guess she’s just not thinking straight. Else she would have chosen a better word and given a better lesson. Gotta give respect to get respect, Ms. Orlova. Else you might start losing some of your student body. Peace.
You’re dead wrong, errin. The explanation that “wop” means “without papers” is not correct. It’s a myth. It was created after the fact, as a backtronym. The true etymology is just as Marina stated, and the word was in use well before ANY papers were required. So, all immigrants would have been just as “without papers” as the Italians.
Italians don’t go around calling each other wops now, but in the 19th century Neapolitans did use an outgrowth of the word “guapo” which changed over time into “wop.” Later, it was changed around into a slur against Italians, with the false etymology created after-the-fact to imply that they were coming to the U.S. “without papers” (not legally or justifiably), while other immigrants had papers. That’s just incorrect.
Your explanation of Italian American culture in modern times is fine; however, it is of no value in an etymological sense because the etymology dates back more than a century. Nothing Marina said implies that she thought that Italian men run around being supported by women.
Your vitriolic, shoot-from-the-hip, posts attacking Marina are not well taken (because you’re just wrong as a matter of etymology and historically). It seems to be born out of some self-righteous conviction that things that you think are correct because you think them. Before criticizing someone who actually opened a book to research the answer, you might want to do some groundwork yourself. The wop and cracker etymologies were simple to verify - you obviously didn’t try and just assumed that whatever was in your head must have been correct.
Look, I don’t know what’s up between you and Errin but there is no need to turn Marina’s site into an argument. I believe that I sort of started this off with my below comment so let me clarify a little bit. As prospero states, it was “simple to verify” the guappo origin…all from non-authoritative web sites like wikipedia where almost anyone can add information. I often use these sites myself but always use the information to get to a reliable source. And yes, I also know that there were no passports or immigration papers required for people to come to the US (otherwise the people in question would have been returned to their countries as illegals) but the officials who processed immigrants through the process in the US did use papers from the country of origin, namely various forms of identity papers and birth certificates. A quote from the history of Ellis Island on the official web site about the process in 1900 reads “If the immigrant’s papers were in order…” It further goes on to state “The ship’s manifest log (that had been filled out back at the port of embarkation) contained the immigrant’s name and his/her answers to twenty-nine questions. This document was used by the legal inspectors at Ellis Island to cross examine the immigrant during the legal (or primary) inspection.” People going though this process were passed from one inspector to another and the stamp was used to ensure that the next inspector was aware of the situation.
In my original comments I have no intention at insulting Marina or her show but I am very curious as to the sources of her info on this one. The first time that I ever heard the ‘without papers” etymology was at a hisotrical museum run by the government and I have yet to find a source for the “guappo” derevation that is even remotely as credible. I’m not saying that it isn’t possible but I’m curious as to what the source is.
Needless to say though, “wop” has turned into a very derogatory term used to insult Italian Americans and should be avoided just like the words “nigger,” “cracker,” “kike,” etc. Also we don’t need to have all of the nasty, bitter attitude on this site. There is no issue with disagreements or differences of opinion but let’s keep it civil.
Marina, as always, love the show, keep it up!
Don’t pull out the stiletto, Siggi.
Sorry. I to am Son of Sicily.
Like the word nigger, it don’t mean nuttin.
BTW: I have studied Pilipino knife fighting. Though I found it quite worthless, I was always getting jibed for my heritage till I pointed out that one cut is enough.
BTW: My great Zio Nichole carried around a “Lupo.”
jace, for the record, my posts were direct and to the point, but not insulting in any way. I don’t think we have to leave posts like errin’s unanswered. She was dead wrong about “cracker” and “wop.” There are plenty of good sources for the etymologies of both, and explanations for why the without papers theory is wrong (and a backtronym).
Someone needs a nap
what is the acronym ; wet back?
Errin,
Thanks for the feedback.. but the “With Out Papers” is a myth. It was created long after the term was already in use.
My sources are the “Oxford English Dictionary” and a bunch of books. I’ll try to find some links on the web for you:
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/wop/
http://www.billcasselman.com/wording_room/wop.htm
I welcome disagreements.
Thanks!
Marina
Woooooo, sound like Italian ignorance/temperament.
In Italy the father sit, his son too, while the daughters and mothers have to clean the whole house and the men have fun outside or what else….sound like a intelligence way to treat someone !?
I was in Italy 4 times, 2 times Sicillia, “Se, comprendere” ? The men may be the head of the family, he works and get in money, but on the other side if his woman would work too, you think he would help in the house ?….mabe then his son has to.
Italy is nice, but I knew a family for about 10 years, and the son always talked, talked, talked, but you never saw him move his ass, he just went out and showed his “Beauty”, he couldn´t clean his own bed, ok, the bed mabe, but the rest.
You can go crazy now, but I don´t care for such ignorance, do something and then we can talk, if you can´t take that, then….how would a woman say, fine !
You made friends with a mop, Marina? Cool. I’m sure you can have some nice dates with it in your kitchen.
Peace, Errin : )
Hey Marina, Page and I are going to see Jack Johnson at Irvine Meddows friday aug 29th. I’m getting four tickets, You and a friend should meet us there. Come on, bring a friend. Meet us there. Have fun. Jack puts on a great live show!
I’ve been called a wanker, an auslander, a grease monkey, ummm…
mongo man, yard ape, river rat, Once, I was even called a Yuppee!
I guess “anglo” would be the word, I don’t know…
blue is my favorite color, again!
The English call an Irishman ‘Paddy’ and a Scotsman ‘Jock’, which are just generic, typical names identifiable with those nationalities.
Why ‘Taff’ for the Welsh, though?
Also why do Yanks call us Limeys, and the Aussies call us Poms?
Marina,
I can not seeem to find any slangs used for the Irish, Although the IRA has terrorised the Brits for taking over there island.
Still I’m part Italian and there you would find a
Grease spot
would get the italians goat.
Gregory
Ferrari, Lambourghini - hey!
elbow grease, maybe?
I always thought “GUAPPO” meant CUTE in Spanish.
“Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?”
- El Guappo, The Three Amigos
like an acronym?good one
Mackrel eaters (pardon spelling)
spud lovers
Too many, not going to list them.
Robert
can you explain what means SEX.
_________________
Peky
Marina,
I’m a little confused on this one…About two years ago I was visiting the museum at Ellis Island and they specifically mentioned the tie-in to the derogatory term “WOP.” There were even a few documents shown where a rubber “W.O.P.” stamp was used on the immigration paperwork to state “Without Papers.” The museum further went on to discuss the fact that at the time period it was mostly Italians passing through Ellis Island. As had happened almost every time the bulk of the immigrants’ country of origin changed, the preceding groups held them with a certain amount of animosity because they were considered competition for jobs and therefore used the word Wop in a derogatory manner.
I hate to question your research like this but are you sure about the guappo connection or is this merely a really odd coincidence?
Jace
PS Keep up the podcast. It’s great, bloopers and all!
Don’t be confused. Marina fucked up this lesson. It is common knowledge the ‘without papers’ thing means wop. She doesn’t even mention without papers, focusing instead on without passport, though passports are anachronistic to the era in which the term ‘wop’ sprang forward. It is anti-immigrant slang, only Marina doesn’t know it because she is ignorant of American culture and history.
folk etymology
wrong
Based on your posts, you’re fairly ignorant of American history and culture yourself.
haha, mop. umm, for me a slang word that I know of is cracker… why am I a cracker? that doesn’t make much sense
I feel so loved!
Keep ‘em coming, caktonias. Good work.
So, big deal Italian guy I’m being supported by a beautiful/sexy/world class French woman…I just haven’t met her yet.
H.M.: vanilla, yobatcho (sp?)
well, i am two minorities, japanese and mexican. finding this hilarious in high school, we dubbed me a japican, or japexican. i still laugh at the fact my mother was asian, and my father was mexican, and somehow met in colorado. yay for story.
Well, I double checked her assessment. She didn’t have enough time to expound on the slur for Italian people.” Think of the Italian word for ‘men who make up the watch,’ guardia. It is pronounced ‘GWARDya.” The famous airport in New York city is not ‘Lawardia,’ is it? No, it’s LaGWARDia. But we are to suppose that every single American listening to these Italian immigrants use their word guappo heard them say ‘wopo’ and not ‘GWAppo.’ That’s unlikely.
The etymology that appeals to my knowledge of verbal transmission is the one propounded by most Spanish linguistic writers on the etymology of their own words and language. Their basic story is: it all happened in Spain. Guapo was first applied in Spain as an insult for Italian migrant grape workers in Iberian vineyards.” (www.billcasselman.com).
kind of confuse in my comments, after reading it… guapo is a word in spanish, which means handsome in english
galloffdaniel
Very good video Marina
One of the words that you said was guapo, in spanish means handsome in english.
galloffdaniel
Hey I was wondering where the phrase “nail” comes from and why we use the same word for finger nails?
I mean, we don’t have nails on our fingers, do we? Or is there another word to describe our finger nails?
And why do men say, I nailed that girl? Ok maybe I know why, but it’s always important to be sure!
DOn’t you tihnk so?
Well it originally referred to a claw, or a fingernail, then spikes were referred to as nails too, as they bit into things like a claw. Of course, when you nail something, you drive something home, you bang it, you leave it firmly stuck, so there’s why you nail a girl on a date.
Odd though that we remove a nail with the claw of a hammer. Don’t know why that is.
Marina,
I’m a “Mutt.” A European mutt, but a mutt nonetheless. I have ancestors from France, Ireland and The Ukraine. I’ve never associated myself with any one group and the only parade in NYC that I regularly attend is the Halloween parade. I consider myself a “Mutt” because that is what dogs are called when they have characteristics of two or more types of breeds. I’m happy with that.
“Check his nose, it’s cold”
Stripes - Bill Murray
Who saw Old Yeller?
Marina:
I was told that upon arrival to America, most Italians did not speak English. When Immigration asked a simple question like “their name”, they could not understand, therefore they could not give the correct answer. Italians were asked to Write On Paper their full name. Again they did not understand. This turned into WOP, for short and then considered offensive.
You are too hot for any of this to matter. We’ll believe anything you say.
Please tell me, does the word “lunatic” have anything to do with the lunar phase of the moon?
Hi Marina,
The derogatory word for the Dutch people is ‘kaaskop’ which, translated into English means cheesehead
Why do we refer to ten years as a DECADE
decade
c.1451, “ten parts” (of anything; originally in ref. to the books of Livy), from M.Fr. decade, from L.L. decadem (nom. decas), from Gk. dekas (acc. dekada) “group of ten.” Meaning “ten years” is 1594 in Eng.
deci, centi, milli - prefixes from Romans (?)
fourth grade stuff. You did make me wonder
(unrelated) - Why is ten cents called a “dime”?
Stops on a dime,
Phone calls used to cost a dime,
dime newspapers, dime coffee
dime days are gone…
They just call me whitey or gweilo
That’s right,
From the Chinese, gwei lo,
from the Japanese, Gai jin,
from the Thais, Farang (though this is not derogatory; not sure about the above.)
from the Indonesians, Orang belando (also the name given to the proboscis monkey - definitely derogatory!)
Proboscis Monkey
Also sometimes been called long-nose or round-eye, which is what we get for some caucasians calling orientals “slants” or “slopes”.
My hot MARINA ,what is the origin of the word DICK ?
I call mine Richard for long.
Is that because your dick is too short, eric?
dick
“fellow, lad, man,” 1553, rhyming nickname for Rick, short for Richard, one of the commonest Eng. names, it has long been a synonym for “fellow,” and so most of the slang senses are probably very old, but naturally hard to find in the surviving records. The meaning “penis” is attested from 1891 in British army slang; dickhead “stupid person” is from 1969. Meaning “detective” is recorded from 1908, perhaps as a shortened variant of detective. The Dick Whittington story is an old one, told under other names throughout Europe, of a poor boy who sends a cat he had bought for a penny as his stake in a trading voyage; the captain sells it on his behalf for a fortune to a foreign king whose palace is overrun by rats. The hero devotes part of his windfall to charity, which may be why the legend attached in England since 16c. to Sir Richard Whittington (d.1423), three times Lord Mayor of London, who died childless and devoted large sums in his will to churches, almshouses, and St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.
…yes I looked it up.
I’m American/ Puerto Rican . the deroratory word spick. .I once read many years ago that spick was first used to describ Italians.. can you please investagate
Hi Marina, have you been watching the Europen Soccer Championship. Not the same without the Enlish but probably better without our infamous hooligans Apparently the word hooligan derives from a notorious Irish family in London…I’d love to know more if possible.
Cheers
Yeah, prestonparasoccer, but have you noticed the evil Germans have been causing all kinds of unpleasantness (often outside the stadia) and getting arrested and so on… it’s not just us by any means
Meanwhile: Rom-ân-ia! Rom-ân-ia!
Ich bin ein Kraut!
“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.” -
Gail GodwinMarina HFWSorry Capt. Jack.
I didn’t see that you had picked up on the quote too.
I like your version better anyhow.
Would you, Marina, describe or characterize yourself as voluptuous? I just like saying that word because it says so much in just four syllables….
that’s pretty interesting. make me the teacher’s pet please!
One last thing: verdure - what is it and where does it grow?
It’s green vegetation. Unless you’re in Antarctica, there’s probably some verdure sneaking up on your place of residence right now…
Speaking of chap….how many meanings does that word chap have, who made it and how was it formed into an English word?
signing out,
Shawn Norris
cowboy chaps, wind chaps, chapped lips,
here’s a good one!
“You know what really chaps my ass…”
now, be a good chap and think up some more
Malicious(ness), veracious(ness), voracious(ness), fallacious(ness), and delicious(ness) all have their suffixes the same, but what makes them so different? they all sound so juicy! lol
and what makes it any different if I said Mariciousness describing the juice in Marina’s ever-so-pleasant name? huh? huh? You tell me. 
Well I think I’ll study the word maliciousness and I would like to know who came up with it first - and I know it’s not ol’ Albert Einstein! The good ol’ chap!
Me too.
who came from England, so Aussies are POMEs themselves. (POME=Prisoner Of Mother England) 
From Australians I’m a Pom, Pommie or Pommie Bastard, but they’re all convicts
From Yanks I’m a Limey.
From the French I’m a Rosbif (Corruption of Roast Beef).
And from the Scots I’m a Sassenach or, even worse, the ultimate insult, an Englishman.
Also, from the Cornish, I’m a Vurriner (Foreigner) or a Grockle (Tourist).
.. or a grackle! cheep cheep
Crikey!!!
Poms calling Australians Pommies!!!
Where the bloody hell am I?
See the Australian tourism ad campaign - “So where the bloody hell are you?”
At :-
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_where_the_bloo dy_hell_are_you%3F
It received a lot of press coverage, but tourism numbers fell.
It disproved the old belief that “Any publicity is good publicity”.
Thanks for the tourism ad reference, cobber.
Let me buy you a Koala-beer.
Wot it is to be Orstralyan
Ouch, that hurts - an attack of cultural cringe.
The dropbears are the worst. One minute, you are walking nonchalantly at a park, the HOLY FREAKIN’ CRAP!! DROPBEAR!! So just be careful
Only in ‘Straya’
If you can’t see Ayer’s Rock, you’re pretty much lost in the bush, which is OK if her name is Sydney
My Dear Teacher,
It must take some effort to collect all of the word requests and keep track of them. Would a specific page used only for requesting words make sense? It would make it easier for you to keep track of them?
I was thinking
of seeing a results page that would show a histogram (similar to the voting page) of all of the requested words and which ones have been done. People visiting that page could also then vote for their favorite word yet to be done.
I think the words that you choose for your videos are words that tend to surface in various current events, which I think is great.
(e.g. GTA IV, Hooker, Nuclear, Lesbian, etc)
I know that it takes a lot of work to produce a video and there is probably a three months lag from a word request to a video? Just letting you know that your work is very much appreciated. ♥♥♥
Get coComments and put Marina as a favorite. She is a zippy squirrel!
Try to keep up with HER, if you can!
Her production software lets her edit “on the fly”.
She has her effects and standard edits already
macro’d to give the product that sleek, lengthy
post production “feel” you have noticed.
I don’t know if she has software searching
for the frequency of words requested,
she might. I believe she does that on the
fly pretty much, though - whatever strikes
her fancy…
Gail got that right!
Gail may have it right, but ♥ Marina ♥ is perfecting it Hotly.
Jack the new lesson is up
Oh thanks Mike. When I comment on here the pages doesn’t refresh so I know until later. Of course I’ve been commenting all day and did not know the page was updated. Firefox does a lousy refresh. Its never completely refreshed.
Hey captain, I did get your message with the link to your site or email something like and got side tracked and now for the life of me, can not find it. Can you please send me another link when you get the chance? Thanks, PD
http://captainjack.ws/page1/page1.php
And there you go.
Ok, slang words for my own ethnicity: white trash, cracker, gentile(?), poor dollar devaluated American, white boy, ex-hippie, boy, geek, whitey, (new recruits in the Army were called) lizards/grunts/target practice/cruit/ road kill, dirt farmer, celery picker, wooden shoes, tulip farmer, Anglo-Saxon. Some of the above do not really qualify as ethnic slang, but in another persons mind do, to me a caucasian/Protestant/American male/with Dutch ancestry. Miss HFW probably never studied Pig Latin for the missing link, part four.issing-may ink-lay
Greenbush that word would make a good one to investigat. Pig Latin</B. We used it as kids in school. Until every one else figured it out. It’s kinda like code.
Pig Latin would make a good word to investigae
As a teen, I moved to Oahu and found out I was a Howlie.
Love your lessons.Some very interesting words have been explained.I am an aussie and would love it if you could find the origin of the word YOBBO.The word was used a lot years ago but doesnt get much use no days.Hope you like the choice of word and do a lesson on it.
Marina, is there a derogatory word in Russian for Ukrainians?
Er…I think the Ukranins and Russians have a lot of unpleasant things to say about each other. Mostly, they use the same language. I’m not sure this helps relations…
I am predominantly Cajun (French) heritage, and our derogatory terms are “coonass” and “frog”.
Hola Marina,
I’m a godamn Limey… and I also have mop who is my friend - which is useful when I have to clean the kitchen floor here at my apartment in Liberty City…
Bizooo!
PS In Australia I’m a Pommie and in France I’m a Rosbif or a Fuckoff (the French claim we say this all the time)…
slide down to the You(r s)tube. And the fly shit that coats the comment page, Is remnant of the good old , Build Her up so they can Rip Her down. the young are a culture of shit stains.
Wow, I haven’t heard the term “wop” in a long time. I hope I don’t forget about it, but I don’t think I would ever be using it.
Hmm, as for the homework, I know a few: Cracker/Saltine, Ghost, Cabbage, WASP, Honky/Conky, Ofay, Albino, Cancer, Blanco, Hick
I’m sure there is more, but those are just the ones I’ve heard of.
I actually would like to submit a word. The word havoc. I know that is means chaos, but what about it is different from chaos? Why not just stick with one word and ditch the other?
I thought WOP was slang for oriental
you thought wrong, or else whatever generation you are in wasn’t paying enough attention to match the derogatory term to the correct ethnic group…
good for them…
Maybe you were thinking of WOG=Worthy Oriental Gentleman.
Wasn’t the origin of WOGS from the importation of thousands of Indian, Asian, and African workers into British-controlled territory for major earth-moving and construction projects, to be removed to a different area upon completion? The workers were issued work uniforms to differentiate them from the natives or the overlords, and printed in huge letters across their backs were the initials WOGS (worker on government stipend). I don’t remember where I saw it, but that’s been my impression of its origin for some time now.
NABB
Not Another Bloody Backronym!
What is the Slang word for Native American Indian
I got one. What’s the origin of the word “kid”
Kid is a baby goat. And a baby goat gets it to everything, just like children
Marina,
This one is a gimme (and a nod) to your mother tongue.
Perchance you could elucidate us on the origins of the Cyrillic alphabet.
Sidebar: I’ve noticed that although you’re written English (and grammar) are superb (better then mine in the latter case). Still, you seem to struggle with certain American English constructions. No shame here. I’m just curious, given that English is your second language, what grammatical and vocal constructions you find most challenging.
In fairness, I should say that like most Americans I wasn’t even exposed to a foreign language until I was 14. My palette & ear were fully formed and not very flexible. I’ve had five years of English & a semester of French. I can read and transliterate rather well from most romance languages, some Germanic languages. Some Gaelic, too. I can stretch my double “Ls” but I can’t roll or trill my “Rs”. Germanic languages are not so hard to unpack at the noun level but baffling when I try to make sense of sentence organization.
What was the most difficult part of learning English for you? Are my travails normal or are you just that much smarter then I am?
Hello cognation73,
I have a similar interest and I had just recently requested origins of Cyrillic, Slavic and a brief cultural tidbits about Russia.
In one of her videos, Marina had mentioned difficulties in pronouncing the “w” sound and she used the example of pronouncing “video” in the “Molotov Cocktail” video. (Very cute; about 3 min mark)
This is another ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ video.
http://www.hotforwords.com/2008/05/05/molotov-cock tail/
Although Belgian, I was fascinated with Helmut Lotti’s musical program “From Russia With Love” shown on PBS. I loved the music and the Russian costumes and the people.
P.S.
You can call me kraut, or teutonic twit (Blazzing Saddles), but don’t call me late for dinner.
How about an early breakfast, then?
I think a lot of it has to do with the early muscular development of the palate. I grew up in the Pennsylvania suburbs, near Philly, thus gifting me with a singularly unpleasant accent, a voice that projects at least half way through my nose.
(Not that bad, really.)
I don’t really know Russian, save for a few words, but I don’t have too much trouble pronouncing what I see. My Spanish is uneven. It’s a rapidfire language but the syllables are clipped and the “double-l” combination seems to suit my northeastern tongue. Can’t roll my “Rs” for my life, though. And French…ugh. Lovely language but mostly I end up coughing up bits of lunch and lung when I try to pronounce it. German is a little easier but every time I try it on I get this insatiable urge to starta land war in Asia in the middle of winter. This might be a different problem.
Incidentally WOP is also the sound that it makes when you hit an Italian over the head with a shovel.
I’m Mexican. The derogitory term for that is Spick. I wonder why Female Mexicans arn’t called “Spicketts”?
Or why aren’t they called Span?
Marina would really be mopping up with that one…
hello i just got a hotforwords thingy cause i saw your videos on youtube and there great
i was wondering what is the word “WHAT” and its kinda been buggin meh because we use it all the time and i dont know where the word “WHAT” came from.hope you are able to help meh and others
p.s. i think you are pretty
is this “Point out the obvious” day?
Hola liamz09… I think your comment is very polite and kind… and don’t listen to miserable people who try to be clever
Yes, I Being Italian , my Teacher, I want to know the origin of the derogatory word Dego!
Growing up I was constantly hearing how great Italian tires are. Dego through rain, dego through Snow, and dego through Mud, but when they go flat, they go Wop Wop Wop….I guess I had to hear it again!~
We Italians can and do make fun of ourselves… It’s true!~
I have Pirelli tires on my Tundra 4×4. They get a bit woppity out there, but they’re holding up fine so far.
Mick or Mac?
One’s an ethnic slur; the other’s a common nickname?
What does hotforwords have to say about this etymological divide?
Both have Gaelic origins. This is obvious enough. Like I said before, I have Scotch & Scotch-Irish roots (mother’s side). Gaul’s have always been pretty insular & Gaelic linguistic roots parallel each other pretty closely. I suspect that regional accents are responsible for the divide & I also suspect that “Mac” DOES mean “of” or “from” or is closely related. Feel free to prove me wrong.
What I am curious about is where the Mac/Mc- suffix splintered off from the Irish side of the Gaelic divide–you don’t see many Irish-Gaelics with the “Mac/Mc-” prefix. You DO see “Mick” rolling around as an Irish-American nickname or, in earlier decades, as a slur.
Thoughts, kids?
I always thought Mick came into parlance because so many Irishmen are called Micheal - not because of the Mc/Mac prefix… like Paddy, which is obviously down to the preponderance of Patricks in Eire…
That makes a certain amount of sense, particularly when you figure in the accent. I dunno, though, Michael is such a common name in Romantic, Gaelic & even Cyrillic languages, and with relatively minor variations throughout. Maybe I’m conflating a common Irish/Scotch-Irish given name with a similar-sounding modifier attached to Scottish clan names. Tricky.
I don’t like this word very much, as I am Italian. But hey it is what it is.
I have a word for you to investigate: Onomatopoeia. I would love to have you research this.
Thanks!
My friend at Burger King says, “Ask Marina to bend over. I’ll whopper!”
Pow! Pow! He’s dogmeat now!!!
Boy!, you’re just havin’ and good ol’ time tonight, arn’t cha?
Pagedoll the new lesson is up
Show some respect, boy!
Mind over McNugget!
Or find the Exit King, for a flavor you can respect!
POW! - when a bullet exits a gun barrel. WOP! - the gun backfired.
POW - prisoner of war. WOP - worshiper of peace.
I’m Swedish. In America the derogatory reference is “square head”, which I guess is characteristic of our typically angular jaw and noggin, but most people, I think, refer to us just as Swedes.