This is driving me nuts now, you know how when GOLF was invented it was a male only sport and its name came from Gentlemen only ladies forbidden, and POSH for rich people was port out starboard home, well the words I am looking for is WOG and WOP, I know that now they are used as very unfriendly and racist terms, I mean no offence. But my husbands greatgrandfather who died in 2002 aged 103 told me this story, he was in India as a very young man I am guessing in the last days of the British Empire, when the first plane landed, he said , I quote "the wogs fell to their knees and buried their faces in the dirt" when i expressed my displeasure at such a word he told me what it meant, and I think he said it was Western oriental gentleman or western oriental person for wop, but i can't see how that is right as india is neither western or oriental, so my memory must be faulty, does anyone know.
2007-12-04
07:57:50
·
14 answers
·
asked by
angela p
2
in
Words & Wordplay