Date: 1/8/01

To: Carla Bertoncino

From: Ted Unseth

RE: Turin

Just a note to say that I enjoyed my last trip to Turin. I bumped into several of your associates who handed me the enclosed.They wanted to be sure that you're 'up' on all the new phrases.

Ciao, baby,

Ted

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An Annotated Criminal Slang Dictionary

[modified from "Vocabolari 'dla Mala", Torino, 1989]

The following list is but a small portion of the expressions used by the Turin criminal underworld. (La Mala, literally "The Bad One") through the years. The terms listed are the most general and (probably) the most useful to add a bit of colour to a Turin-based campaign. Words with a (*) are not restricted to the underworld, and are informally of general use among the population. Whenever possible a translation of the slang term has been provided. A note on pronunciation: Piedmontese is closely related to French, and therefore a French pronunciation of the following expressions might help to approximate the actual sounds.

Italian		Slang			English
                                    Ammattire		bate le cuerce   *		Get Crazy
                                    		(to clang on pails)
                                    Ammazzare		barbé le ghete  *		Kill
                                    		(to steal the spats)
                                    Arma tagliente	sacagn			Cutting implement
                                    
                                    Arrestare		beive (to drink)		Grab/Arrest
                                    
                                    Assassino		sassin	*		Assassin
                                    Aver Freddo		pernisé (to stew)		Get Cold
                                    Beghina		pepia	*		Bigot
                                    Bello		gansso			Good
                                    Bere		cirì			Drink
                                    Bifolco		barot	*		Redneck
                                    Bisticciare		botalé, cioché	*	Quarrell
                                    Bocca		gaiofa	*		Mouth
                                    Borsaiolo		pinsa (pliers)		Pickpocket
                                    Cane		taboj, tabo			Dog
                                    Capo		capataz			Boss
                                    Carabinieri		fratelli branca 		Carabinieri
                                    		(famous distillery),
                                    		caramba, cagna (bitch)			
                                    Cimitero		camp ed coj (cabbadge patch)	Graveyard		
                                    Coltellata		botonera (buttonhole)		Knife Wound
                                    Confidente		canarin (canary)		Police Spy
                                    Debito		gancio (hook), puf		Debt
                                    Delinquente		brut (ugly)			Criminal
                                    Evitare		schiné	*		To Avoid
                                    Fabbrica		boita	*		Factory
                                    Ferire		sacagné			Hurt
                                    FIAT		la feroce (the fierce)*		FIAT
                                    Filar Via		pedalé (to pedal)		Run away
                                    Fortuna		cul (bottom),  *		Luck
                                    		paracqua (umbrella)
                                    Furbastro		falabrach *		Smartass
                                    Furto		'l ciòch (the mess)		Robbery
                                    Giornale		busiarda (liar) *		Newspaper
                                    Gruppo chiassoso 	maraja			Noisy group
                                    Imbroglione		zanzibar			Con-man
                                    Informazione	drita (straight one)		Information
                                    In gamba		en piota 			"On the ball"
                                    Ladro		grata (scrathcer)		Thief
                                    Lavorare		ponté (to push),  *		To Work
                                    		Rusché (to scratch)	
                                    Lento/Pigro		gargh	*		Slow/Lazy
                                    Mangiare		lapé, pité			Eat
                                    Mangiare a sbafo 	spòrze la gheuba 		To scrounge a meal
                                    		(show the bump)
                                    Manicomio		balengheria,		Sanitorium
                                    		Babi (toad)	
                                    Mano		pinsa (pliers)		Hand
                                    Manrovescio		torcet( a hard biscuit)		Slap
                                    Matto		gabia (cage), sonà(ringing),	Crazy
                                    		garola
                                    Mercato nero	sciangai			Black market
                                    Morire		saré ij ante  *		To Die
                                    		(to close the blinds)
                                    Mussolini		pera o oli (stone or oil)		Mussolini
                                    		Ceruti (Mr Smith)
                                    Nascondere	'	pianté (to plant)		To hide
                                    Notte		la bruna (the dark one)		Night
                                    Operaio FIAT	barachin (lunch pail) *		FIAT worker
                                    Osteria		tanpa (pit), piola *		Ale house
                                    Pagnotta		grola *			Bread loaf
                                    Palo		la cioca (the bell), 		Lookout
                                    		la nona (the granny)
                                    Passaggio 		armari a mur (wall closet)	Secret passage
                                    Pedinare		tapiné			To track
                                    Perquisire		fogné, fe le pules 		To search
                                    		(to look for fleas)
                                    Picchiare		onse (to oil), 		To Beat
                                    		passé 'l buì (to offer dinner)
                                    Pistola		tron (thunder), canon, 		Gun
                                    		sciopet(blunderbuss)
                                    Polizia		pola (chick), madama (the Lady)	Police
                                    		la giusta (the Right One)			
                                    Portafogli		'l quai (ulcer)		Wallet
                                    Postribolo		el ciabot (the shack)		Whorehouse
                                    Prete		cornajass (crow)		Priest	
                                    Prigione		stildo			Jail
                                    Raggiro		bidon(barrell) *		Swindle
                                    Rapina		la dura (the Hard One)		Robbery
                                    Refurtiva		arponcia			The booty
                                    Robivecchi		feramiù	*		Ragman
                                    Rubare		graté(to scratch), 		To steal
                                    		Cacé (to hunt), berliché (to lick)					
                                    Sacco di Botte 	volpin (a fox coat)		A severe whack
                                    Sbronza		sumia(ape)			Noisy drunkenness
                                    Scansafatica	fagnan *			Lazy man
                                    Sciocco		gagio, ciola			Fool
                                    Sfortuna		sgaro			Ill luck
                                    Soffitta		colombera (pigeonhole)	Attic
                                    Sordido		salop			Sordid
                                    Spia		porta pachet *		Spy
                                    		(parcel carrier) 
                                    Tacere		buté berta en sach 		To be silent
                                    		(to put Berta, the Mouth, in the sack)			
                                    Truffa		bidun (barrell), pachet (parcel)	Swindle
                                    Truffatore	`	bidunista (barrel maker)	Swindler
                                    		gabolista
                                    Ubriacatura		piomba (the Leaden One)	Quiet drunkenness
                                    Uccidere		scursé (to shorten)		To kill
                                    Vecchia		ciospa *			Old woman
                                    Veleno		brod d'ondes ore 		Poison
                                    		(the late night soup)
                                    Vestito		tapo			Suit
                                    Zingaro		sinto			Gypsy