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This is a glossary of words related to the Mafia, primarily the Italian American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia. administration: the top-level "management" of an organized crime family -- the boss, underboss and consigliere. [1] associate: one who works with mobsters, but has not been asked to take the vow of Omertà; an almost confirmed, or made guy ...
Today, especially in Italian-American slang, "goombah" is a term for a companion or associate, especially a friend who acts as a patron, accomplice, protector, or adviser. When used by non-Italians to refer to Italians or Italian-Americans, "goombah" is often derogatory, implying a stereotypical Italian-American male, thug, or mafioso. [3]
Zips. Zips (also Siggies or Geeps) is a slang term in the United States that was especially in use in the early 20th century. It was often used as a derogatory slur by Italian American and Sicilian American mobsters in reference to newer immigrant Sicilian and Italian mafiosi. The mobsters in the US were said to have difficulty understanding ...
Guido (/ ˈɡwiːdoʊ /, Italian: [ˈɡwiːdo]) is a North American subculture, slang term, and ethnic slur referring to working-class urban Italian-Americans. The guido stereotype is multi-faceted. At one point, the term was used more generally as a disparaging term for Italians and people of Italian descent. More recently, it has come to ...
False etymologies. One false etymology or backronym of wop is that it is an acronym for "without passport" or "without papers", implying that Italian immigrants entered the U.S. as undocumented or illegal immigrants. [9][10][11] The term has nothing to do with immigration documents, as these were not required by U.S. immigration officers until ...
However, in an earlier publication, the 1960 Dictionary of American Slang, written by Dr. Harold Wentworth, with Flexner as second author, spic is first identified as a noun for an Italian or "American of Italian ancestry", along with the words 'spic, spig, and spiggoty, and confirms that it is shortened from the word spaghetti.
Italian profanity (bestemmia, pl. bestemmie, when referred to religious topics; parolaccia, pl. parolacce, when not) are profanities that are blasphemous or inflammatory in the Italian language. The Italian language is a language with a large set of inflammatory terms and phrases, almost all of which originate from the several dialects and ...
Sonata. Soprano. Sotto voce (in Italian it literally means 'under the voice' i.e. 'in a low voice'; often written without spaces) Staccato. Tarantella (after the city of Taranto) Tempo (in Italian means 'time') Timpani (Italian timpano, pl. timpani) Toccata. Tremolo.