Los Angeles, California
~
A
A friend of ours: mob
shorthand for introducing one made guy to another made guy. "A friend
of mine" is just another jamook on the street.
A trippa di zianata: "your
aunt's tripe."
Action: a bet that a bookie
"writes" and for which you pay him his "vig."
Administration: the top-level
"management" of an organized crime Family—the boss, underboss, and
consigliere.
Agita: anxiety, edginess, an
upset stomach.
Anti-Trust Violations: what
authorities call the mob practice of carving out exclusive territories.
Wiseguys call them "mine."
Associate: one who works with
mobsters, but hasn't been asked to take the vow of Omertá; an
almost confirmed, or made guy.
B
The Books: a phrase indicating
membership in the Family. If there is a possibility for promotion, then
the books are open. If not, the books are closed.
Borgata: an organized crime
Family.
Boss: the head of the Family
who runs the show. He decides who gets made and who gets whacked. The
boss also gets points from all Family business; also see don, chairman.
Buon' anima: salutation
meaning rest his soul.
Buttlegging: bootlegging
untaxed cigarettes.
C
Cafone: a peasant or
lower-class.
Capo: the Family member who
leads a crew; short for capodecina.
Cazzis: see Stugots.
Che bruta: How ugly you are.
Che peccato: what a pity, what
a shame.
Chiacchierone: chatterbox.
Clip: to murder; also whack,
hit, pop, burn, put a contract out.
Code of silence: not ratting
on your colleagues once you've been pinched—no longer a strong virtue
in organized crime families. Also see Omertá.
Col tempo la foglia di gelso
diventa seta: old Italian saying meaning, "Time and patience change the
mulberry leaf to satin."
Comare (also goomah, goomar,
or gomatta): slang for girlfriend or mistress. No self-respecting
wiseguy is without one.
Come heavy: to walk in
carrying a loaded gun. You shouldn't have lunch with a Russian drug
dealer unless you "come heavy."
Confirm: to be made; see made
guy.
Consigliere: a trusted Family
advisor, who is always consulted before decisions are made. See Tom
Hagen in The Godfather.
Crank: speed; in particular,
crystal meth.
Crew: the group of soldiers
under the capo's command.
Cugine: a young soldier
striving to be made.
CW: FBI shorthand for
Co-operating Witness.
D
Don: the head of the Family;
see boss.
E
Eat alone: to keep for one's
self; to be greedy.
Executive Game: a
special-event card game for celebrities and other high-rollers.
F
Facia bruta: ugly face,
something you call someone you don't like.
Family: an organized crime
clan, like the Genoveses, the Gottis, or the Sopranos.
Fanook, or Finook: derived
from "finucchiu" or fennel, a derogatory term for homsexual or gay,
i.e., people that wiseguys feel nervous around. A "mezzofinook" is half
gay, sissy, bi.
Forbidden Fruit: the lure of a
wiseguy to a nice Italian girl from the neighborhood.
G
G: a grand; a thousand
dollars; also see large.
Gabagool: (capo cuoll)
something to eat.
Gira diment: going crazy.
Golden Age: The days before
RICO.
Goomah (sometimes pronounced
"goomar"): a Mafia mistress; also comare.
Guests of the state or Guests
of the government: going to prison, doing time.
H
Hit: to murder; also see whack.
I
In the wind: after you leave
the Witness protection program you are "in the wind," meaning you're on
your own somewhere out there.
J
Jamook: idiot, loser,
lamebrained, you know, a jamook.
Juice: the interest paid to a
loanshark for the loan; also see vig.
L
Lam: To lay low, go into
hiding.
Large: a thousand, a grand, a
G.
LCN: FBI talk for La Casa
Nostra, or translated, "Our Thing."
M
Made guy: an indoctrinated
member of the Family. Essentially, you pledge your allegiance to the
boss and the family for life. To even qualify, your mother has to be
Italian.
Madonn': Madonna, common
expression meaning holy smoke, holy cow, holy shit.
Mannagge: going to war with a
rival clan or family.
Message job: placing the
bullet in someone's body such that a specific message is sent to that
person's crew or family; see through the eye, and through the mouth.
Mezza morta: half-dead.
The Mob: a single organized
crime family; OR all organized crime families together.
Mobbed up: connected to the
mob.
Mobster: one who is in the mob.
Mock execution: to whip
someone into shape by frightening the shit out of them.
Moe Green Special: Getting
killed with a shot in the eye, like the character, Moe Green, in The
Godfather. One form of "sending a message."
Mortadella: derived from the
Italian sausage, meaning a loser. As in "Guy's a fuckin' mortadella."
Mulignan (literal
translation): eggplant. Another word for African-Americans. Also called
"mooleys."
Musciata: mushy.
O
OC: FBI talk for Organized
Crime.
Omertá: the
much-vaunted Mafia vow of silence. In other words, don't rat on your
friends. Transgression is punishable by death.
Oobatz: u'pazzu—crazy.
Outfit: a clan, or family
within the Mafia.
P
Paying tribute: giving the
boss a cut of the deal.
Piacere: "Pleasure to meet
you."
Pinched: to get caught by the
cops.
Points: percent of income; cut.
Poverett: poor person.
Predicates: an offense which
the Justice Department can choose to "fold into" a RICO statute. As in,
"This charge could be tough. It could have predicates."
The Program: The Witness
Protection Program.
Pucchiacha: cunt.
Pump and dump: standard
practice for unethical stockbrokers. First drive up the price of a
small stock by "encouraging" investors to buy it ("pump") and then sell
you own shares ("dump") for a tidy profit.
Puttana: whore.
R
Rat: one who snitches or
squeals after having been pinched.
RICO: Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations Act. Passed in 1970 to aid the government in
clamping down on organized crime activities, its scope has since been
broadened to prosecute insider traders and anti-abortion protesters.
S
Schifosa: ugly woman.
Sfogliatelle: an Italian
pastry.
Shakedown: to blackmail or try
to get money from someone; also to give someone a scare.
Shy: the interest charged on
loans by loansharks.
Shylock business: the business
of loansharking.
Soldier: the bottom-level
member of an organized crime Family, as in "foot soldiers."
Spring cleaning: cleaning up,
hiding or getting rid of evidence.
Strunz: strunzo—piece of shit.
Stugots: from stu cazzo or u'
cazzu, the testicles. Tony Soprano's boat is The Stugots.
T
Taste: a percentage of the
take. Tony gets a big taste from bookmaking or racketeering but only a
little taste from medical fraud.
Tax: to take a percentage of
someone's earnings.
This thing of ours: a mob
family, or the entire mob.
Through the eye: a message job
through the eye to say "We're watching you!"
Through the mouth: a message
job through the mouth to indicate that someone WAS a rat.
Tizzun: Neapolitan derogatory
term for black person.
U
Underboss: the second in
command to the boss.
V
Va fa napole: "Go to Naples"
(i.e., "Go to hell.").
Vig: the interest paid to a
loanshark for the loan. Abbreviation of vigorish; also see juice.
Usually two points or 2%.
W
Waste management business:
euphemism for organized crime.
Wearing it: showing off one's
status in the organization by dressing the part. "Wearing it" usually
involves an Italian suit, a pinky ring, a hankie in the breast pocket,
gold cufflinks, and other ornamentation. Silvio has his own inimitable
way of wearing it.
Whack: to murder; also clip,
hit, pop, burn, put a contract out.
Wiseguy: a made guy.