this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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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.
Sounds like folk etymology. Like how "fuck" is supposedly an abbreviation for whatever-the-hell but it's just... not.
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.
You are mistaken, that is a myth.
Interesting, I just got this from Merriam-Webster.