The Sopranos Italian Slang
Several weeks ago I was at a family function in New York. On the way home I was talking to my wife while waving my hands, making faces, and using words and phrases that cracked her up. She astutely pointed out that, whenever I'm in the same room with my relatives for more than five minutes, I make an interesting transition from the well-spoken Ivy League-educated hornster that I usually am to someone who is straight off the set of a Sopranos episode.
- A word of advice about italo-american slang from the Sopranos and similar mafia related movies: that’s almost never even remotely similar to italian. Most sicilians would not understand it, either: they are americanizations of the sicilian dialect of a century ago.
- Cappicola – (Italian) – spiced Italian ham, also dialecized as 'cap i coal' or 'capa gool'. Cavatelli – (Italian) – a type of pasta in the shape of small, smooth pea pods. Cidrule – (Southern Italian dialect) – cucumber or stupid (when used as an insult), pronounced.
My first reaction was to throw up my hands and reply 'Whaddya talkin?' Her response was a simple 'See.that's what I'm talking.about.'
Of course, she was right. So, being the ever-inquisitive hornster, I started thinking about this. Here are my conclusions:In the New York - New Jersey area in particular, many people of Italian-American descent have developed their own version of Italian slang, that I'll call N'Italian. Granted, some of the slang is a pretty brutal bastardization of la bella lingua, but, I grew up with them so they are near and dear to my heart. Some words and expressions have many variations in spelling.
For example, the letters 'c' and 'g' are often used in place of one another. Some also have multiple meaningsso hand gestures, facial expression, and body language are often needed to make an accurate interpretation of contextthese will be the subject of a future post. They also have their own English slang expressions.that too will be the subject of another post.Here are a few samples of what I'll call N'Italian 101.a N'Italian/English dictionary of sorts:gabagool.
Goombah (also spelled Goomba, Goombah, Gumba, or Gumbah) is slang for people of Italian descent, mainly in the United States, with several related connotations to the Mafia or gangs of Italian or Italian-American origin.
This is pronounced ga-ba-'gool. It's slang for cappicola, a highly seasoned type of ham that is a popular cold cut.proshut. This is pronounced pro-'shoot. It's slang for prosciutto, a salt-cured type of ham eaten as a cold cut and used in Italian cooking.madonna. Pronounced madonn' or mah-'dawn.
The literal meaning is 'virgin mary' or 'mother of God,' but its slang meanings are 'Oh no!' Or 'That's too bad' or 'Holy shit!' A variation is the expression madonna mia. Sample usage:Paulie: 'Tony, I'm stuck in friggin' traffic, so I'm gonna' be late for the meetin'.Oh yeah. And I forgot to pickup the gabagool and proshut.'
Tony: 'Madonn', what the hell else is gonna' go wrong today?' Pronounced ming'.
Often used as a substitute for madonna.goomah. Pronounced goo-'mah or coo-'mah. This means 'girlfriend,' but it must be used in the proper context. If you're single and have a girlfriend, she's your goomah.
Your wife or fiance is NOT your goomah. If you're married or engaged, a goomah is someone you're seeing on the side.stunad. Pronounced stew-'nod. A person who is stupid, thick, dense. Sample usage:'I tell him how to do it five times, and he still screws it up. Ming, what a friggin' stunad.'
Pronounced oo-'botz. It means 'crazy' or 'you're crazy.'
Sample usage:'Friggin' shyster sends me a bill for five grand. I call him up and say 'You think I'm gonna pay this? Pronounced stew-'gotz. It means 'balls' or 'big balls' or 'you've got some balls.' In the Sopranos, Tony's boat is named Stugats.fancul. Pronounced fon-'gool. It means to 'go f- yourself' or 'f- yourself up the a-.'
Sopranos Italian Words
Variations include va fancul and a fancul.fanuk. Pronounced fa-'nuke or fi-'nuke. A guy who is gay. Think Vito in the last few episodes of the Sopranos.In a future post, I'll put these together with some English slang expressions and body language.
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That's all one needs to carry on a basic conversation.More words like these can be found in my buddy J.D. Cannon's fast-moving suspense novel Just By Chance.rated 5 Stars on Amazon. Mobsters, a beautiful high-class escort, and a sexy tropical setting.what could be better than that?Check it out.click on the cover image or to learn more.Badaboom Badabing.If you enjoyed this post you might like to hear what some of these expressions sound like over.My Page.
Anonymoussaid.OK, so I read your Italian lessons and they aren't bad, but some things need to be clarified i think. So, I hope you don't take offense ot my editing job - or you can just tell me fancul'a'sorella. MING' - short for MINCHIA which is a Sicilian dialect for cock. SEE: CAZZO STUGATS - short for Sto'cazzo which is, again, a word meaning dick or my dick or this dick. A less regional 'cockism' than minchia.
FANUK - short for finocchio, an Italian word for fennel and vernacular for homosexual man (probably because the bulb fennel plant looks like a cock and balls). Anonymoussaid.Very interesting. Do you know enough Italian to know where they come from? - though some are dialect and not Italian properly speaking. Ming is 'minchia', a Sicilian word for the, ah, male member goomah is probably, 'comare', Neapolitan for a married or at least attached lady oobatz is 'o pazzo', Neapolitan and general Southern Italian for, oh, 'this nut case'. A 'pazzo' is an insane person in standard Italian. Stugats is 'sto cazzo', which doesn't mean, um, 'large-balled' in Italy.
It's just a general, if vulgar, exclamation of surprise. A 'cazzo' is standard Italian for the male member.
Fanuck is 'finocchio', slang from Neapolitan for a gay. It means 'fennel', a plant that doesn't need cross-pollinizing.
Anonymoussaid.Just a little info from an Italian-Italian. Most of the words you mention aren't based on actual Italian, but from Naples or Sicilian dialects. Also, here are a few ethymologies: 'Gabagool' - Isn't from 'cappicola' but from 'capocollo'.
'Ming' - Is a bastardization of 'minchia' (remember Zappa's 'Tengo una minchia tanta'?) meaning 'penis' in Sicilian. 'Oobatz' - Would be 'U' Pazz', literally 'The madman', in Naples dialect. 'Stugats' - Is 'stu cazz', Naples dialect from 'sto cazzo', or 'this penis'. 'Fancul' - Is short for 'Va a fare in culo' 'Vaffanculo' 'Fanculo'. Losing the ending 'o' is typical of Southern dialects.
'Fanuk' - Comes from 'Finocchio', literaily 'fennel'. Phyllissaid.First, let me thank you for your kind offer. Next, interestingly, I think a friend and I figured it out last night. After having searched the Web, and coming up short, I finally found a reasonable interpretation for the word pezzanovanti. If you separate 'pezza' and 'novanti,' you get the following: pezza = piece novanti = plural of ninety On one of 'The Godfather' websites, I discovered that the ninety stands for.90 calibre.
Naturally, 'novanta' means ninety. So,a.90 calibre 'piece' could mean a.90 calibre gun, or, a big shot. And the way it was used in The Godfather trilogy, seems to confirm this interpretation. When you watch the trilogy again, see if you agree. Thanks again.
Phyllis Cybernawns@aol.com. Anonymoussaid.I highly agree that this site is so medican (if that's the way you spell it) since it does not exist in the italian dictionary. I was born in Italy and raised in the US. The words you are using are slangs or come from different dialects, from different parts of Italy. Some words are just made up by second and third generation italians.
95% of Italians in Italy speak the proper Italian, which they take pride in, considering it is such a beautiful language and to tell you the truth when they hear someone speak in a southern Italian dialect, they look down on you. I don't find this site offense, I find it comical.
It is another misconception of what Italians really are like, just like the Sopranos and the Godfather. Italians have had the greatest minds and talents DaVinci, Bottecelli just to name a few. And by the way, I'm curious to know, is the created of this website second, third or fourth generation? Said.My family comes from the regions of Palermo, Napoli, Trapani, and Calabria. Though my family took it all the way to the Bronx a while ago. My dad is a such a class-A goombah that it's laughable, and seems to use all of these instances of N'Italian on a regular basis.
He usually refers to pompous or unknown people as 'Joey Boombotz', 'Vinny Doot Da Doot', 'Suzy Googotz' and the like. However, like many people have said, 'ming/minchia' is Sicilian for either 'cock' or 'penis'; it's still at debate. Anonymoussaid.Very Interesting. Someone managed to overlook the beauty of a very valid subculture to comment that the words on this list are not actually italian, but dialect/slang.
Yet that very person used a word that's not actually in the italian dictionary(but slang) to describe his or her distate. What a farce! I know this post is almost 2 years old, yet I was compelled to comment. I am a culturalist of some sorts.
Recently, I have been investigating concepts of subcultures, 'adjuct cultures', and 'neo resurrected' cultures. I found this blog while browsing the web in search of the meaning of an italian american term that I have heard often.
I absolutely enjoyed the knowledge and anecdotal evidence shared here. Continue to be proud of your culture and your combined heritage: Italian(albeit Southern or Northern-at the end of the day it's all Italian!) and American. It is the core and the center stone of your being! Anonymoussaid.I'm Anglo-Italian, my parents came from southern Italy to England, UK in the 50's. Why is it that despite the fact I live in the UK; a country with lesser violence, lesser gang warefare and very little or no Italian Mafia activity than that of the US, that I often feel like I want to stick a fork in my neighbours fucking eye when they park their car over my drive. I think this is the southern Italian mentallity coming out of me - very long memories and little respect for those that piss me off. Said.I wish I knew how long ago these posts were written, but here are my opinions/thoughts/memories on some of the posts: Goomah is a Godmother Comare, just like a Goombah is a Godfather not sure of the spelling, Compare, possibly - I had a Goomah Connie who had Baptized my mother and if you say, 'Comare' fast it sounds like Goomah, the same applies for the masculine opposite of the word, Goombah, Compare.
And Managgia phonetic: Man ah jah, I think means, 'My Aggita' or 'I'm gettin' Aggita' or 'You're giving me Aggita' which we all know means heartburn, lol.and last but not least, Mincchia, translates to everyone was close:-) Dick, as in Testa di Mincchia, Dickhead.hahaha.that's all I have for now:-) and thanks for the blog, it brought back memories, I found it looking for Come su dici, which I thought was slang for Whatta ya say? But I still can't figure it out. Compare' means your close friend, the godfather of your children, or the guy who is making you 'cornuto' with your wife. Hence the expression by Don Corleone, 'You never called me Godfather' (compare) even though his wife was the godmother of the baker's daughter.' Mammone' is an adult son who still lives at home with his mother.
It literally means ' a milk fed calf'. See the movie 'I Vitelloni'. It means the same thing.' Mopeen' is a dish towel. 'chadrool' is a cucumber, or a person with no personality or smarts.
Said.Thanks for this site. I grew up in Philadelphia hearing my mother curse in italian but she was a full blooded German! My father's family came off the boat from Naples post WWII so my mom had lots of tutoring from the in-laws! I'm in my 50's now and every once in a while one of these curses will pass my lips. I forgot what a few of them meant so I googled. Most of the sites had Roman dialect and those curses were nothing like the ones I grew up hearing.
So this site confirmed what I remember from childhood. Anybody know what fu nob or fa noble means? Said.Bada,A lot of the pronunciation is from Sicilian or Neopolitan (actually separate languages, not dialects).More or less 'C' is prounounced 'G', 'P' is prounounced 'B', and the final vowel is almost not pronounced at all. That isn't exactly right, but what it sounds like to a 'medican'.
Of course, the words are frequently different as well.So, in my family (Sicilian):capa di cozza (head of dick or dickhead) was pronounced gaba d'goats.Even my aunt would refer to me as 'gaba dose' (capa di ossa, or bonehead)My niece still swears that a cannolu (Sicilian for cannolo - a single cannoli) should be prounounced 'gunnol' and that pizza is properly said 'beets'. Said.anonymous said:95% of Italians in Italy speak the proper Italian, which they take pride in, considering it is such a beautiful language and to tell you the truth when they hear someone speak in a southern Italian dialect, they look down on you. I don't find this site offense, I find it comical. It is another misconception of what Italians really are like, just like the Sopranos and the Godfather.uh, glad you are amused. You where probably so busy looking down, you forgot to notice that these words and phrases weren't claimed to be proper italian; they are italian-american slang (or, in your words, italian-medican).my grandparents were first generation immigrants from monopoli, and spoke 'italian' in the home. Neither of them ever went to school - not even kindergarten. They used many of these words - some of them not even rooted in italian.
My grandmother called the bathroom 'u ba couse' when speaking her italian. It's not italian, but a mangled version of 'back house.' Her kids pick up on the mangled word as italian, and it passes on down.every sister, cousin, and friend that immigrated with them and lived in town understood and used such slang when speaking in 'italian.'
I'm glad you have the luxury of looking down and laughing. I find it fascinating.
It's a great example of how dynamic all languages are; how quickly they can evolve into something all together different when left unchecked. Said.Some Neapolitan dialect slang I grew up listening too from NJ. Anonymoussaid.I have been blessed in growing up in both Italy and America and am fortunate to have both my Italian and American citizenship. I do notice that true Italians refer to themselves not as Italian but from the town or regione they are from, such as I'm bolognese, or fiorentino. And to Italians someone like myself that is both Italian and American is called an oriundo.
It's funny because I use my own slang at times such as buione, which means big darkness, do I have to spell it out for you. For second or third generation Italians that can't speak Italian but put on like they are everything Italian, my wife and I refer to them as impostore, meaning poser.
I guess after this jersey shore era one might use of guido. For mexicans I say stranieri, which means foreigners. I have a lot more but ill save those for another day. Just thought I would shed some light on what a new generation italo americano uses for slang.
Anonymoussaid.I know this post is old, but I felt compelled to respond. Im first generation Sicilian American (my mother was born in Terasini Sicilia) and these words are definitely Sicilian (rather than proper Italian), but are still highly butchered. One of the things that really gets to my mother, my Nonna, my Zio's and Zia's (or tsi-tsi's as we called them, which is pronounced zi-zees) is the Jersey and NY Sicilians (Im a Boston Sicilian) shortening of the words, e.g. Manigot (manicotti), Proshut (prosciutto), etc.
For me, I could care less. Well most of it.Most. But things like gabagool for cappicolla is a little too butchered for me, it basically loses all association with the originating word and starts sounding ridiculous.In any case Sicilian and Italian are basically two different languages (though Sicilianu is really just an Italian dialect).
The Sopranos Italian Slang
Most of my family speak both, and they are very different. Sicilian tends to put u's at the end of words rather than a's or o's for example - stunadu instead of stonato - i was always told it meant slow, or thick in the head, mangiastu - (eat, mangiasti in italian), stupidu, la bicciadidu, la bicciadedu (not sure if I spelled them correct, but its pronounced la bitch-id-ee-doo which means a little baby and la-bitch-oo-theh-doo which is a little kid), aggiadu rather than aggiada, etc. And the Sicilian my family speaks even has some greek influences, for instance, we call eggplant melanzana (instead of moulinyan) which is a greek word. Being from a fishing town in Sicily may have influenced this due to trade with Greece. And Sicilians tend to pronounce p's as b's and c's as g's, for instance, basta instead of pasta, gugina-o instead of cugina-o, brusciutto instead of prosciutto, gumba instead of compa or compare.Also Sicilian in my experience is more harsh, expressive/exaggerated or even more angry sounding than traditional Italian.
Italian is almost musical or poetic whereas Sicilian is rough and aggressive. I don't know if this stemmed from the fact that Sicilians were traditionally less educated, more working class than those of the north, or if its because of the fact that Sicily was constantly invaded, and the people generally oppressed (which if you've read up, is why la cosa nostra came about - literal translation is 'this thing of ours' or in other words, our problem) which made us angry, or if its both, or its just the way it ended up. But even as a 1st generation Sicilianu, I can tell you, that I identify myself as Sicilian, and NOT Italian. When people ask what nationality I am, I say Sicilian.
We are different. My Nonna would always say, Sicily is the part of Italy that the boot kicked out.we were the outcasts, the unwanted. The 'lower class' of Italy. Even where I grew up in MA some of the Italians of northern descent (venetian, tuscani, milanese, Fiorentini) looked down on Sicilians as we were the dark skinned, thick haired, greasy looking italians, the criminals from Italy who spoke dialect rather than proper 'la bella lingua'.Anyway, the American-Sicilian dialect, I like to call Sicienglish (Sich-english). Anonymoussaid.I know this is an old site but I just wanted to see if anyone was still on it.My greatgrandfather immigrated to New York from Sicilia in the 1890's with my greatgrandmother and young grandfather Victorio Vernatchi. Victorio (Vic) grew up in New York as a fisherman and a cobbler during the off season. He moved to New Orleans around 1910 and then on to Eureka, Calif.
He eventually made his way to Sacramento, Calif. In 1917 where he met my grandmother Violetta( I know, a lot of 'V's', and they were married. 1918 my mother was born and a year later they all moved to San Francisco, Calif. Where my grandfather still fished during the season out of Fishermans Wharf and ran a shoe shop in the Upper Mission District.
Which brings me to the point of this.It's funny how people can pickup an accent from an area they never lived in. My mother never lived in Brooklyn but always had Brooklyn accent that she picked up from her father. I can remember my grandfather using many of these slang words when I was young. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately I never knew what most of them meant until now. Thank you for the enlightenment.Tony Vernatchi Naramore. Said.For the woman who wanted to know about 'Mooshe mooshele.'
Forgive the poor spelling. The original is in Napulitana:Mooshee MoosheleSa mangiati casheele?Sa na dada me?No?Froosa-froos a la casa tuo.Here is the translation according to my grandfather:Kitty-KittycatDid you eat the casheele?Did you save some for me?No?Then go back to your own house!On this note, I would dearly love to know the italian words to lullaby; my grandparents used to sing it to me, and I know it started 'neena-non'.? Nicolesaid.I laughed and cried reading this. My grandparents are Sicilian, Neapolitan, Calabrase and Bah-daze (phonetically). The slang I grew up with also are variations of what was stated; again (phonetically)ban-ya-dole - bathroompisch-ya-dole - pisschooch - an idiot, ass.
Whateverstugotsah bah fangul (while flicking your chin with 1 finger)mool-en-yahn (eggplant or derogatory for a colored man)goomah was both Godmother and a girl on the sideboo-tana- whoremapeen- dish towelmamaluketoot-soonGapescemah-nah-g -dam itcoo-goots - referring to silly kid or if you bump your coo-goots (head in this case)my favorite. A knuckle head was a baccala.Cute story. I asked my 14 year old boy to get the mooz-a-dell out of the fridge. He said 'there is no mooz-a-dell, but there is mozzarella.
Can you use that'? Said.Honestly this is bugging me. The godfather is portraying AMERICAN organized crime by Italian immigrants and American-born Italians. I promise I would never sully your precious reputation by crediting this cultural portrayal to ITALIANS in ITALY. Italians are also known to be ignorant nationalistic people - Mussolini and the fascist were in ITALY not AMERICA where all us Mis-guided poor Neopolitans are tryin to make a dmn buck while ya'll were supporting HITLER.
Just to refresh your MEMORY about all of our HERITAGE!!!! Anonymoussaid.I am first generation from the south and spoke only my dialect until I immigrated a month before my 22nd birthday. I spoke no English, had no education, and no money. It was tough, but I am a lot tougher and made it.I completed my secondary education while working and saving money, went to community college and became a tradesman to be more employable, to improve my working conditions, and to earn more money to save and invest.I married almost 12 years after I immigrated, and by then owned (mortgaged) a small apartment building and a small construction company. I had good command of English and decided to study a B.A. Part time.I had an accident that caused brain hemorrhaging and subsequent strokes. I was in and out of consciousness for 23 hours, and was left severely disabled with the right side of my body semi-paralyzed.
I was a mere 35 years old.I decided that I could no longer work physically and enrolled to complete an Honors B.A. By the time I had completed it, I was 90% recovered and started to work.The lessons I had learn were, be kind and friendly to all because you can be down much quicker than you can go up; never give up; when corner, fight and fight hard; education brings you to a higher division because knowledge is power; plan as if you were to live forever, and live as if it was the last minute of your life.As a result, I have intensified my life and now have 3 degrees, speak 5 languages and my dialect, and will start a double master this year.
I am now 58 years old, have no symptoms from the stroke, and have no grey hair or any other signs typical of my age. Most people think of me as a 40 something very fit, and handsome guy. I am also wealthy enough to be tempted to be pompous, but I am not.Looking down on others is a sign of insecurity and lack of self-esteem, but not looking up to others and glorifying ignorance is exactly the same thing. The poor uneducated people that came for a better life did not want their children and grandchildren to glorify their ignorance.
They wanted their off springs to make a better life for themselves.I have done that and have mastered English and other languages. I don’t glorify my humble beginnings. It was painful to be poor and ignorant. I don’t glorify my dialect. It is not a language. It is the result of ignorance and not knowing how words are spelled and pronounced.
I only use my dialect when I sing the songs of the south. In all other circumstances, I strive to sound, in any of the languages I now speak, like the well-educated gentleman that I have made myself.JMV. Said.No, all Americans do not believe that all Italians speak like this. Relax- forget about it, please!We know that this ' lingo' is associated with bad-ass type Italians- mafia & those who are proud of the Italian tough guy portrayal. Sopranos, wise guys, like Deniro roles.
It can be fun and we are aware that not all Italian people relate or identify with this stereotype. But many Americans who are not Italian enjoy this lingo and like Italian tough guys and all associated such as love of good food, sense of power & even criminal aspect. But we know that all Italian people are not involved in organized crime and slang usage.But across the board, all Italians like good food or had mothers who were great cooks!!! That is more of a universal concept than the slang that you worry about being associated with. Be happy!Love from a goofy Newfie ( how about that stereotype?).