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"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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[-] Afghaniscran@feddit.uk 10 points 1 year 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 6 points 1 year ago

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

[-] MONKEYHOG@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

You are mistaken, that is a myth.

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year 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.

[-] naharin@feddit.nu 3 points 1 year ago

Interesting, I just got this from Merriam-Webster.

this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
23 points (100.0% liked)

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