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submitted 10 months ago by yool_ooloo@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

"He had the handsomest wop kisser I ever saw" -Jean Genet "Thief's Journal" p.185

What does wop kisser mean?

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[-] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

People already handled the first bit. Kisser used to be slang for lips. So, "he has the handsomest Italian lips", basically.

[-] naharin@feddit.nu 16 points 10 months ago

wop, noun, often capitalized offensive — used as an insulting and contemptuous term for a person of Italian birth or descent

Etymology Italian dialect guappo swaggerer, tough, from Spanish guapo, probably from Middle French dialect vape, wape weak, insipid, from Latin vappa wine gone flat

[-] Afghaniscran@feddit.uk 8 points 10 months ago

If I'm not mistaken it was originally to describe Italian immigrants during whatever period of time (world war 1 maybe?) and it was a acronym for Without Papers. As in not having a visa.

I could be mistaken though, I read that once from one source so not really done any due diligence.

[-] amio@kbin.social 5 points 10 months ago

Sounds like folk etymology. Like how "fuck" is supposedly an abbreviation for whatever-the-hell but it's just... not.

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago

There was no such thing as a visa during that time. Immigration documents did not really exist until 1924 and the slur was already in use by then.

[-] MONKEYHOG@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago

You are mistaken, that is a myth.

[-] naharin@feddit.nu 2 points 10 months ago

Interesting, I just got this from Merriam-Webster.

[-] Mothra@mander.xyz 5 points 10 months ago

This is very interesting considering guapo is used as synonym for handsome in Spanish across the globe in this day and age

this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
18 points (82.1% liked)

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