The term "button"

[PolackTony]

Stab in the dark: Maybe Bruno was saying bersagliere?

Yeah, I was wondering that just now too. If so, would presumably mean a “shooter” or “hitter” then, which wouldn’t be a rank within the chain of command or organizational position.

[B.]

If we take the phonetics they used as fact, the closest thing I can come up with is "buon' signore", literally "good sir / mister". No idea if that phrase was typical in Italian as it is in English, but he may started to say that even if it's someone in good standing he won't be protected if he behaves that way, then launched into the ranks.

We've talked before (maybe in this thread) about the use of gentiluomo (gentleman) as a euphemism for members in the early Sicilian mafia, which is sort of a predecessor to "goodfellow", so maybe there was something like "buon' signore" in use too. No idea.

[PolackTony]

If we take the phonetics they used as fact, the closest thing I can come up with is "buon' signore", literally "good sir / mister". No idea if that phrase was typical in Italian as it is in English, but he may started to say even if it's someone in good standing he won't be protected if he behaves that way, then launched into the ranks.

We've talked before (maybe in this thread) about the use of gentiluomo (gentleman) as a euphemism for members in the early Sicilian mafia, which is sort of a predecessor to "goodfellow", so maybe there was something like "buon' signore' in use too. No idea.

Could be. “Buon signore” is definitely used as a phrase in Italian. Meaning “good sir” as in English but also in the religious sense of referring to God (“Good Lord”). Would seem that an Italian speaker had glossed “soviagenza” as sovrintendente, however, so I’d tend to think they’d have recognized if he was saying “buon signore”. But who knows.

[B.]

During his testimony at the 1908 murder trial of Rocco Racco, Hillsville quarry laborer Carmine Esposito told of his induction into the local Calabrian Camorra or “L’Unurata Sucità” under Giuseppe Cutrone and Ferdinando Surace. After swearing an oath on a collection of knives and razors, Esposito said that he was told that he was a member and that he “had to go under the buckle of Surace”.

Could be coincidence, but “going under the buckle” could be cognate to “belonging to the button”. Back in the day, “bottone” would have denoted a brass or other metal fastener, thus very similar to a buckle. Would need to know what the original Italian or Calabrisi word that Esposito would’ve used of course.

Another good one. That's how I interpreted Allegra's use of bottone, that it was akin to being "buttoned down" within Cosa Nostra. Similar to "under the buckle" or "buckled down". Too bad they didn't use the term buckleman.

I imagine there were phrases like this in Italian culture in general just like we see in the English language.

[PolackTony]

During his testimony at the 1908 murder trial of Rocco Racco, Hillsville quarry laborer Carmine Esposito told of his induction into the local Calabrian Camorra or “L’Unurata Sucità” under Giuseppe Cutrone and Ferdinando Surace. After swearing an oath on a collection of knives and razors, Esposito said that he was told that he was a member and that he “had to go under the buckle of Surace”.

Could be coincidence, but “going under the buckle” could be cognate to “belonging to the button”. Back in the day, “bottone” would have denoted a brass or other metal fastener, thus very similar to a buckle. Would need to know what the original Italian or Calabrisi word that Esposito would’ve used of course.

Another good one. That's how I interpreted Allegra's use of bottone, that it was akin to being "buttoned down" within Cosa Nostra. Similar to under the buckle or buckled down.

I imagine there were phrases like this in Italian culture in general just like we see in the English language.

Yeah, may very well have been more generally idiomatic and not specific to mafia and camorra membership.

[B.]

There was an old Italian term "attaccabottoni" meaning "buttonholers" that comes from the phrase "attaccare bottone" (attack button) used to mean "start a conversation". So an attaccabottone is someone who strikes up a conversation, used pejoratively if the person is too talkative.

Probably no influence on the mafia's specific use of bottone / button but it was used in daily life and I could see even that phrase lending itself to a mafioso's ability to speak on someone's behalf though that might be a stretch since it refers to speaking too freely.

[Sullycantwell]

The earliest example of "button man" in common use was around September 10, 1963, apparently from Joe Valachi. Before that the phrase meant someone in a political campaign who gives out or wears political buttons, and before that it was more literal, so a button man was someone who manufactured or designed actual buttons.

The phrase "making one's bones" dates in the media back to the first Godfather film in 1972, although it's in the 1969 novel.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... ppe_traina this doc from 1962 refers to Giuseppe Traina's two nephews as "Button Men."

[cavita]

Maybe I had it all wrong but my understanding was a "button man" was a killer in the family. Kind of like a Harry Aleman of Chicago. A guy that could "press a button" on someone they'd be gone.

[cavita]

Maybe I had it all wrong but my understanding was a "button man" was a killer in the family. Kind of like a Harry Aleman of Chicago. A guy that could "press a button" on someone and they'd be gone.

[cavita]

Maybe I had it all wrong but my understanding was a "button man" was a killer in the family. Kind of like a Harry Aleman of Chicago. A guy that could "press a button" on someone and they'd be gone.

This is an FBI file I have relating to the term.

[PolackTony]

Maybe I had it all wrong but my understanding was a "button man" was a killer in the family. Kind of like a Harry Aleman of Chicago. A guy that could "press a button" on someone and they'd be gone.

This is an FBI file I have relating to the term.

“Button men” is a synonym for soldati. Of course, any soldier is in theory expected to commit murder when called to do so, which could be the source of the idea that a “button guy” was specifically a killer. It’s my belief that the notion that the term comes from likening the execution of someone to “pushing a button” is probably a post hoc etymology and that the term has a deeper history. Eric’s post early in this thread about Allegra using “buttone” would support that it’s an older term translated from Italian/Sicilian. My reading of the Rockford excerpt here is that Buscemi and the redacted guys were known to the CI (any idea who the CI was?) as soldiers, as he also noted the admin and captains (“street bosses”).

[B.]

The "pushes the button" thing comes from the Godfather movie, curious if they got that from somewhere else.

[Antiliar]

The earliest example of "button man" in common use was around September 10, 1963, apparently from Joe Valachi. Before that the phrase meant someone in a political campaign who gives out or wears political buttons, and before that it was more literal, so a button man was someone who manufactured or designed actual buttons.

The phrase "making one's bones" dates in the media back to the first Godfather film in 1972, although it's in the 1969 novel.

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.htm ... ppe_traina this doc from 1962 refers to Giuseppe Traina's two nephews as "Button Men."

I wrote "in common use," which is after it was introduced to the public in the Valachi hearing. I didn't mean when it was used by the Cosa Nostra, but the public.

[PolackTony]

In 1967, Bompensiero describes the making ceremony, using the terms “outfit” and “Family” interchangeably.

[PolackTony]

In 1967, Bompensiero describes the making ceremony, using the terms “outfit” and “Family” interchangeably.

At a subsequent visit, Bompensiero offered further info on the ceremony (this isn’t really about nomenclature, but doesn’t really warrant posting a new thread for it). The report makes it seem that Bomp described the initiate as having to hold the burning card in his hand until it was burned away (as opposed to juggling it back and forth or dropping it to the floor), as we saw with the 1983 Chicago ceremony (where the Calabrese bros both separately recounted having to hold the card until it burned down to the skin of the palm while their reaction was scrutinized by the Family’s leadership):




———————

At the same visit, Bompensiero also gave a detailed account of the protocol involved in holding a Family “trial” for a member; the Consigliere cast the first vote, then the other members, and finally the Boss: