Wop is a pejorative racial slur for people from Italy that may have originated between 1910 and 1915 in the United States;[1] according to Merriam-Webster its first known use was in 1908.[2] Its origin in Italian dialect is guappo, meaning a swaggerer, derived from the Spanish term guapo, via dialectical French, meaning ruffian or pimp.[3][4] This also has roots in the Latin vappa, meaning wine gone flat.[5]
It was brought to the U.S. by early Italian immigrants from the region of Campania, who named those suspected to belonging to the Guapparia "Guappi", in a similar fashion Sicilian people used the term "Mafiosi". Widely used in Chicago where most immigrants from Campania settled, it was confused by non-Italian people to indicate Italians in general, like the word "paesano".
This slur was used by Welsh Assembly Member Alun Cairns on a live broadcast from Radio Cymru on Friday 13 June 2008, when he referred to the Italian Euro 2008 football team as "greasy wops". As a consequence, he resigned from office.[6]
[2] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
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