What’s the difference between the Government and the Mafia?
One of them is organized.
An old Italian Mafia Don is dying.
He calls his grandson to his bedside. “
Guido, I wanna you lissina me. I wanna you
to take-a my chrome plated .38
revolver so you will always
remember me.”
“But grandpa, I really don’t like guns.
How about you leave me your Rolex watch
instead?”
“You lissina me, boy.
Somma day you gonna be runna DA
business, you gonna have a
beautiful wife, lotsa money, a big-a home and
maybe a couple of bambinos “
“Somma day you gonna come-a home and
maybe finda you wife inna bed with another man..
“Whatta you gonna do then?
Pointa to you watch and say, ‘Time’s Up’?
A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper has cheated him out of ten million bucks. His bookkeeper is deaf. That was the reason he got the job in the first place. It was assumed that a deaf bookkeeper would not hear anything that he might have to testify about in court.
When the Godfather goes to confront the bookkeeper about his missing $10 million, he brings along his attorney, who knows sign language. The Godfather tells the lawyer, “Ask him where the 10 million bucks he embezzled from me is.” The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where the money is. The bookkeeper signs back: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
The attorney tells the Godfather: “He says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.” The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to the bookkeeper’s temple and says, “Ask him again!” The attorney signs to the bookkeeper “He’ll kill you if you don’t tell him!”
The bookkeeper signs back: “OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Enzo’s backyard in Queens !” The Godfather asks the attorney: “Well, what’d he say?” The attorney replies: “He says you don’t have the balls to pull the trigger.”
62 members of the Gambino Family were arrested last week. Here’s how some of them got their mobster nicknames. And all this time I thought they got there nicknames from the Mob Nickname Generator!
HOW MOBSTER NICKNAMES GET ‘MADE’
According to mob expert John Carillo, most gangsters don’t know one another’s last name. “It’s a group of people that know each other basically by nicknames or first names.” Among the funniest are:
Thomas Cacciopoli: “Tommy Sneakers.” He “likes sneakers,” Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo testified at the trial of Gambino boss Peter Gotti.
Joseph Corozzo: “Jo-Jo,” “Miserable.” It’s about that attitude, Jo-Jo.
Robert Epifania: “Bobby the Jew.” He’s not Jewish. But he “looks like a Jew,” his cohorts told investigators.
Domenico Cefalu: “Italian Dom,” “Dom from 18th Avenue,” “The Greaseball.” “Greaseball” is the pejorative the elder John Gotti used for Sicilians; 18th Avenue is in his neck of the woods, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Nicholas Corozzo: “The Doctor,” “The Little Guy,” “Seymour,” “Grandpa,” “Grandfather,” “Little Nick.” This 5-foot-6 mobster goes by “Grandpa” when with close friends.
Vincent Decongilio: “Vinny Hot.” His father was “Freddy Hot” – plus he’s into gambling.
Leonard DiMaria: “Uncle,” “Lenny,” “L,” “Fatso,” “The Conductor.” Self-named, he once signed a get-well note to a Newsday reporter “Uncle Lenny.” He’s short, squat, with a broad nose.
Anthony Licata: “Anthony Firehawk,” “Anthony Nighthawk,” “Cheeks.” Firehawk and Nighthawk are names of trucking companies.
John D’Amico: “Jackie Nose.” “He had his nose fixed. He had a big, distorted nose at one time,” DiLeonardo said at the Gotti trial. D’Amico was said to have been upset with prosecutors for using the nickname.