An Italian - when Italians first came to the US, they were some of the most industrious and hardest workers. When times were tough and a hard or low-scale job needed to be done, an Italian would be willing to do it for the menial wage of a Guinea (a reference to an old, nearly worthless, British coin).
by Geri Atric June 14, 2017
An Italian or Italian immigrant - The term 'wop' was not used pejoratively in its origin. My wife's grandmother, a first generation American born to an immigrant from Italy, told me that when a person went through processing at Ellis Island and had no travel documents, their portfolio was stamped W.O.P - With Out Papers (this occurred in an era before the compound word "without" evolved).
by Geri Atric June 14, 2017