In the movie The Graduate, the main character, Benjamin Braddock (portrayed by Dustin Hoffman) has an Alfa Romeo "Spider" - an Italian sports car, that his dad gave him for his college graduation present.
(Nice, right?)
Saw this movie a few times over the years, but there's a line in it near the beginning that I never noticed before this week. The guy says it kind of fast, and there's party chatter in the background.
"That your car out front? That little red wop job?"
Whoa! Way to slide a racial epithet into the conversation in a smooth, genial way. Really, every time I've seen that movie, and I never noticed that before.
I Googled it, just to make sure it's still a word that exists because I've never heard anyone say it except Archie Bunker on "All In The Family" and the party guest in The Graduate. It comes up when you Google: it says 'wop' is an "ethnic slur."
(They say ethnic slur; I say racial epithet.
Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.)
------------------------ [Internet] ----------- "Wop" is an offensive ethnic slur used against people of Italian birth or descent. It can also refer to the popular 2011 hip-hop dance song by J. Dash....
+ Ethnic Slur: Used in the United States since the early 20th Century to insult Italian-Americans.
+ Etymology: Derived from the Neapolitan dialect word guappo (meaning a swaggerer, brawler, or tough guy), which came from the Spanish guapo.
...
+ Military Abbreviation: Historically used in World War II records to designate a wireless operator.-------------------- [end / Internet excerpt]
Great, now we have to Google "wireless"...it's some kind of radio, right?
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