Second Attempt at Mafia Lingo Query

[Bruce Dykes]

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Haas <highbob at MINDSPRING.COM>
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Date: Thursday, January 20, 2000 4:22 PM
Subject: Re: Second Attempt at Mafia Lingo Query


>come heavy: to come armed?


Dead on.

>My guesses are simply based on watching all the works of Francis Coppola
and
>Martin Scorsese, so hey, no disrespect.  Why don't you call one of these
>guys?  It'd be cool.

HBO's 'Sopranos' site used to have a glossary, but it appears to have
vanished. Add that show to your media diet, you won't regret it, especially
if you like Mafia stories. Hopefully their dialogue reflects accurate and
current usage too, but maybe it doesn't.

I had heard in an interview that the FBI estimates there are only
3,000-4,000 active Mafia members, which makes it unlikely that there'll be
regional variation in Mafia cant. As far as non-cant variation goes, it may
or may not match usage patterns as a whole.

(disclaimer: not a professional linguist, any corrections about professional
term usage are welcome)

bkd