Talk:wop
Add topicLatest comment: 17 years ago by Versageek in topic racially offensive term
racially offensive term
[edit]My understanding is that many Italian Americans find this term offensive. It was a term of derision for those wanting to put down Italian immigrants, much as illegal immigrant is used today against Hispanics and other immigrants. The Official Scrabble Dictionary has removed this term. Can Wiktionary do the same? Rrenner 15:03, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
- We don't remove words from a dictionary because they offend some people. (Scrabble is a family oriented game, I can see why they might remove it). Instead, we note in the definition that the terms are offensive. You will find quite a few racially offensive terms defined here. --Versageek 15:17, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
The dictionary should at least note that the term is offensive. Also, when is the source for the acronym explanation being false? My Italian grandfather, who lived when the term was actively used, explained the meaning to me as such. It makes no sense for the term to derive from Spanish when it was a slur used by White Americans to refer to Italians.