The term "button"

[B.]

Good info, Tony. Antiliar makes a good point that R often sounds like D and it's rare to see the reverse, but you found some good regional examples of it. I'd never really thought about whether it was a two-way street.

I notice when Pennisi says it, he seems to say "caporegine". I've never gone back and listened twice and could be mistaken, plus he's an nth generation member and far from the source of the language, but he must have mimic'd the pronunciation of other members.

I don't think "caporegime" was an LE interpretation that was later adopted by some members, like "La" Cosa Nostra, but came from the membership itself. Whether it was delibrate or a phonetic corruption, members around the country appear to have readily understood it.

[PolackTony]

Good info, Tony. Antiliar makes a good point that R often sounds like D and it's rare to see the reverse, but you found some good regional examples of it. I'd never really thought about whether it was a two-way street.

I notice when Pennisi says it, he seems to say "caporegine". I've never gone back and listened twice and could be mistaken, plus he's an nth generation member and far from the source of the language, but he must have mimic'd the pronunciation of other members.

I don't think "caporegime" was an LE interpretation that was later adopted by some members, like "La" Cosa Nostra, but came from the membership itself. Whether it was delibrate or a phonetic corruption, members around the country appear to have readily understood it.

The D -> R shift is definitely present in Campania and Potenza at least, perhaps other parts of the South. There is some indication that this shift also occurred among some speakers in Palermo, but I don't know enough to comment. If one pays close attention to the articulation of the tongue against the hard palate when pronouncing D and R in Italian (not the trilled "RR" of course), you can see how similar they are and how easy it is to shift from one to the other (close to the way Americans pronounce the "tt" in "butter").

How exactly "caporegime" came to be adopted and spread among LCN members remains a question. I don't know whether it actually stemmed from LE misinterpretation, but I still think it's possible. Tom Hunt and John Dickie (I believe) have both made the argument that the Feds played a role in helping to propagate and formalize the use of "(La) Cosa Nostra" (IIRC an example was Augie Maniaci, whose familiarity with the term seemed to grow as agents continued to ask him about it). A similar process could have occurred with "caporegime".

[PolackTony]

Another claim that Dickie makes in “Cosa Nostra” is that the mafia in Sicily didn’t start referring to cosche as “families” until the post-War period, due to the relative prestige and influence of American mafiosi. Is there any evidence to counter this assertion? If Dickie is correct here, one has to wonder how exactly the notion of a cosca as “famiglia” became salient and proliferated in the US. Uses of “fictive kinship” ties are common in diaspora populations, as a way of forging new patterns of socialization, power, and reciprocity in new migrant settlements, and one can see the use of co-parenthood and “padrone” systems as forms of this in the formation of Ital-American communities.

I see two distinct models here of the nature of the mafia organization and the basis for legitimacy of authority therein vis-a-vis the membership. One the one hand, a “municipal” model, with the constitutive unit likened to Sicilian cosche or borgate, the membership akin to a town council, and the leader as a “representative” of the municipal constituency. On the other, a “familial” model, with the membership akin to blood family and the leader as a paternalistic “father” (in the Bonnano account, of course) or “head of family” (capofamiglia). Whereas the “municipal” model connotes notions of formality, rationalization, procedure, office, democracy, bureaucracy, affiliative ties, and the public sphere, the “familial” model instead suggests blood, tradition, obligation, love, trust, inherited roles and relationships, and the domestic sphere. Of course, while these are distinct models in the abstract, actual members may draw on both, depending on context and the type of connection that is salient at the moment. And while the “familial” model may have arisen in diaspora, the American mafia did continue to also use “borgata” as synonymous with “family”, while families such as Chicago also appear to have adopted new “municipal” concepts drawn from their particular location, such as notions of “ward” or “district” bosses.

Again, if Dickie is correct, it isn’t surprising that the “familial” model would be useful in diaspora. Unlike back in Sicily, where kinship ties were dense and complexly cross-cutting with other institutions such as the mafia or the state, migrants — who truly belong neither “here” nor “there” — would be attracted to fictive kinship networks that serve to strengthen new bonds through an appeal to “essential” familial relationships (as well as ethnicity/nation, which, of course, are blood and family writ large). These desires would be even more marked in the journey from Sicily to the cities of the US, where not just cultural alienation but also the anomie and atomization of a modern, industrial society awaited. Notions of family, blood, and nation become all the more attractive as resources to cope with these dislocating and alienating shocks. Additionally, the “municipal” model of the mafia is grounded in authority over and identification with a specific place, whereas “family” can extend across and transcend location, another potential source of its salience for new ways of conceptualizing the mafia in light of immigrant experiences. As we know, Italian immigrants during the formative period of the mafia were highly mobile, both within and across particular cities.

[B.]

Capofamiglia shows up in early Italian investigations long before the war. It was in use by the Fascist authorities when targeting the Sicilian mafia in the 1920s and 1930s. Whether that was an invention by the authorities or based on something the mafia itself was using, I'm not sure. I know the mafia used "capo" and "rappresentante" during the same period to refer to boss.

I doubt "capofamiglia" is a reflection of American influence post-WWII given Italian investigators were using it decades earlier. If the mafia didn't use it, they could have adopted it from the authorities. We've seen where the mafia tends to do that.

Terms for family I've seen used by members:

- Borgata
- Cosca
- Factory/fabbrica (Scalise used this, probably as code, in his letters to Sicily, might not have been in actual use)
- Family/famiglia
- House (used in early 1900s NYC, probably elsewhere)
- Outfit (casual term that become more formal in Chicago)
- Paese

Famiglia may have been a euphemism like factory/fabbrica, but for all we know all of the above terms might have originally been placeholders/euphemisms that got grandfathered into the organization. In the same way the organization traditionally didn't have an official name for the organization, they may not have had an official name for individual families. If the mafia hadn't latched onto the FBI's 1960s names for them (Gambino, Colombo, etc.), who knows how we'd refer to them. We have some examples like the West Side for Genovese and Ducks for Lucchese, but it's interesting to see FBI recordings from before the FBI names set in. You see a lot of guys refer to the Gambino family as "Albert" even though he was long dead and Carlo was in place.

[Antiliar]

I don't think Dickie is correct on this one, but haven't looked into it. Going back to Nick Gentile, his nickname was Zu Nicola, or Uncle Nicholas, which is a familial term.

I also don't recall seeing a pentito ever referring to a borgata as a cosche.

[B.]

You could be right. I assumed it had been in use within the Sicilian mafia but offhand I don't remember seeing someone use it.

[B.]

Terms for members used by members:

- Amici / amico nostra / friend of ours / friend
- Button / Buttonman / "belonging to the 'bottone'" (Sicilian)
- Goodfella
- Gentiluomo (gentleman / this term was in possible use early in Sicily)
- Fratello (brother)
- Picciotti
- Stesso cosa ("same thing")
- Wiseguy

Note: I didn't include soldier/soldato, as that refers to a specific rank. The above are used to refer to members regardless of rank.

[PolackTony]

I don’t have the text of Vito di Capomafia handy. How did Gentile refer to “families”; as famiglie, borgate? My impression was that Melchiorre Allegra used the term cosca, am I wrong on that? Or did these guys generally just refer to the town/city — someone belonged to Villabate, or was the capo of Cleveland, etc. (if so, that would point back to B’s claim that these terms may have themselves simply been placeholders/euphemisms for something that did not originally need a formal name, same as the various terms for the “mafia” itself).

Glancing through authors such as Dickie, Critchley, Letizia Paoli, I just see “cosca” asserted as the name of the constituent unit of the mafia, but the usage doesn’t ever seem to be attributed to a source. If no pentito appears to have used the term, is there any evidence that it actually originated in use by the membership, or was it possibly another example of an outsider term that became adopted by the mafia?

[Villain]

- Picciotti

I remember reading one quite old article regarding the old Camorra and in it the author said that for one to enter the "Malavita", first he needed to become a “Tammurro” (I dont know if they spelled it right) which allegedly ment something like beginner or associate, and the following or higher rank was allegedly “Picciuotto” which very much corresponds with "Picciotti"

I also stumbled upon the terms such as "Camorrista" or “Masto", followed by "capintesta” or "capinesta" and also “capintrito”. The story went like the organization was formed of chiefs or “capintesta” of each of the twelve districts into which the society was divided and each district also had a subchief or “capintrito.” Above them were allegedly the head chief and all of the chiefs of divisions constituted the high tribunal of the Camorra, from whose judgment there was no appeal.

[B.]

Tony--

Allegra uses "famiglia" to refer to the individual groups and uses "capo" and "rappresentante" to refer to the boss.

Gentile also uses the term "famiglia" but said in America they also use "borgata". Gentile himself primarily uses "borgata" himself when discussing the groups. It's interesting he refers to "borgata" as an American term given it makes more sense in a Sicilian mafia context.

Gentile does use the word "capofamiglia" once when explaining the hierarchy to Chilanti in an interview excerpt but in the actual book he exclusively uses "capo" and "rappresentante" just like Allegra.

I wonder if we can find any member sources who ever used "cosca" in Sicily -- Antiliar made an important point with that.

[B.]

(Note: I used to think goodfella and wiseguy were general terms for anyone involved in the life, member or associate, but Massino clarified they refer specifically to made members)

Going against this, Harry Riccobene says someone who is put on record as an associate becomes a "good fellow":

[NothingNew44]

(Note: I used to think goodfella and wiseguy were general terms for anyone involved in the life, member or associate, but Massino clarified they refer specifically to made members)

Going against this, Harry Riccobene says someone who is put on record as an associate becomes a "good fellow":

Great find. Thanks

[PolackTony]

(Note: I used to think goodfella and wiseguy were general terms for anyone involved in the life, member or associate, but Massino clarified they refer specifically to made members)

Going against this, Harry Riccobene says someone who is put on record as an associate becomes a "good fellow":

That’s interesting, great find. My impression used to be that “good fellow” referred only to made guys, while “wiseguy” was synonymous with “mobster” and could be a made guy or an associate.

Incidentally, it appears that “wiseguy” (though not “good fellow”) was used in Chicago, though I don’t know that it referred specifically to made guys. For example, CW Red Wemette recorded conversations with Frank Schweihs, who told Wemette that if a “wiseguy” came to try and collect from Wemette, he should tell Schweihs who would handle it (IIRC). Schweihs was collecting for Louie Eboli at the time.

[PolackTony]

Since this thread is about terminology, thought I'd post these here.

Seems that Tampa may have been yet another family that referred to itself as "the outfit". The way the CI uses it here it seems like a more systematic or conventional rather than casual usage:


Reference to the SJ family as the "outfit":


There were of course a number of instances in the Sam DeCavalcante tapes where the NJ guys used the term "outfit" to refer to specific families (e.g., Sam refers to the "Bonanno outfit" several times):


Joe La Selva:

[B.]

I've seen examples of it from just about every city/region.

I think what happened with Chicago Outfit is similar to the term Cosa Nostra, where it was a euphemism/casual term but publicity led even the members themselves to double down. In Chicago, "outfit" became capital O "Outfit" even to them.

As Joe Bonanno said, the organization has no name but he heard people like Vincenzo Mangano use "cosa nostra" (Bonanno doesn't capitalize it in his book) while he didn't (he used "our tradition"), but he said everyone called it different things based on their own subjective experience (Bonanno is deep). Rocco Scafidi said they called it the mafia when he was made circa 1950 and then when he got taken off the shelf in the early 1960s they told him Cosa Nostra. Maybe the influence of Angelo Bruno.

Bonanno also said his members called him the Father of his Family and the DeCavalcante tapes confirm his members called him that, which Sam found weird.

But yeah, "outfit" was used casually to refer to the mafia all around the country but it was more common in the midwest where they didn't use other euphemisms as much.