White Anglo Saxon Protest. Literary use was to distinguish subject from another ethnic category; now primarily meaning non-Jewish.
"Kunkel's hero, 28-year-old Dwight Wilmerding, is a likable, self-conscious doofus, contemporary New York WASP hetero version, .... " NYTimes book review by Jay McInerney, 2005 Aug. 28
by Another Reader August 28, 2005
As an adjective, just a place filler, as, "You Know," or, "The thing of it is... " Usually an attempt to give extra impact to a statement.
by Another Reader September 09, 2005