Lol back off. You have pics of DiFronzo, Carlisi and Accardo from the late 1980's attending a mob meeting and you also have members coming to Accardo during the early 90s Lol.

And my point is that...according to your idea...the term "Mafia" applies for the Arabs, again according to your idea...since most of the Sicilian words are Arabic. There are also similarities between the Italians and Albanians in their language and last names and so the Albanians are also able to use the word Mafia right?! Lol

....so my last point is that the Sicilian "Mafia" term falls in the same "lazy" group which you previously mentioned. History says that even the term "camorra" comes from Spain lol Terms like "Cosa Nostra" is one thing, while the term "Mafia" is another which is more general. Cheers

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels that way, Jace was the first one to say he's tired of hearing Greek Mafia, Chinese Mafia, Russian Mafia, etc, and I agree with him! Accardo is an anomaly then. Still, my point is that it's unfair to compare pre-RICO bosses to present-day bosses and you keep using this Accardo guy, deviating from the point I'm making.

On the term Mafia: The word mafia originated in Sicily. The Sicilian noun mafiusu (in Italian: mafioso) roughly translates to mean "swagger", but can also be translated as "boldness, bravado". In reference to a man, mafiusu in 19th-century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising and proud, according to scholar Diego Gambetta. In reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form, "mafiusa", means a beautiful or attractive female. The Sicilian word mafie refers to the caves near Trapani and Marsala, which were often used as hiding places for refugees and criminals.

Sicily was once an Islamic emirate, therefore mafia might have Arabic roots. Possible Arabic roots of the word include:

ma?af? (????): exempted. In Islamic law, Jizya is the yearly tax imposed on non-Muslims residing in Muslim lands. Those who pay it are "exempted" from prosecution.
mahy?? (?????): aggressive boasting, bragging
marf?? (?????): rejected
mu??f? (?????): safety, protection
Ma??fir (?????): the name of an Arab tribe that ruled Palermo

But notice how the word Mafia has Arabic ROOTS, keyword roots, that doesn't make the word Mafia Arabic itself, it's still an Italian word. All of the above Arabic terms are just that, Arabic.

And I'll end this with a quote from Anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone: "While there was a time when people were reluctant to pronounce the word "Mafia" ... nowadays people have gone so far in the opposite direction that it has become an overused term ... I am no longer willing to accept the habit of speaking of the Mafia in descriptive and all-inclusive terms that make it possible to stack up phenomena that are indeed related to the field of organised crime but that have little or nothing in common with the Mafia."

Is that Wiki? lol lol I rest my case.

I've seen that in books long before Wikipedia ever came to be. If you don’t agree with it, introduce evidence to refute it then.

Lol so I guess because the word Camorra might have originated in Spain it's okay to lump every organized crime group under that word. By your logic, we now have a Russian Camorra, Albanian Camorra, Romanian Camorra, lol probably a Nigerian Camorra out there too.

You forgot another statement from your Wiki source book man....lol lol

"mafya" - place of shade. The word shade meaning refuge or derived from refuge. After the Normans destroyed the Saracen rule in Sicily in the eleventh century, Sicily became feudalistic. Most Arab smallholders became serfs on new estates, with some escaping to "the Mafia." It became a secret refuge."

Mafya, still spelled differently from the Italian word Mafia. Maybe that's why that Russian mob book was called Red "Mafiya" because Red Mafia or Russian Mafia just doesn't make any sense and the author knew it!

Oh really?! I dont know about you but whole Mediterranean and eastern Europe can say it exactly the same as the term "Mafia" (in latin of course.

Also, maybe someone can chime in on this, but I believe there are some words and names that can be both Italian and Spanish. Camorra being one of them. I remember someone posting photos of Italian mobsters and others asking why they have Spanish surnames when they were actually of Italian origin. The two languages are very similar.

You just want so badly for everyone to be able to call themselves Mafia, like you feel left out or something if that doesn't happen lol. We must've offended you when we said that other ethnic criminal groups need to stop being called Mafia lmao.

Raimondo Gamur



Sorry I hurt your brain "Ligle". lol lol

TD, I suggest you don't waste your time and energy. This kid is lost in space 80% of the time and he spends the other 20% of it being derisive and contrary. (And I'm sure you're correct when you say he's "from across the street.")

Its like trying to shovel shit against the tide with him....you're just not going anywhere with it. LOL

I agree and thanks bud. As I always say, I love the "ignore button" on this forum lol

Anyway, moving right along, here's another one: "And they call themselves Men of Honor" everytime they do something that's morally repulsive to them. Another ridiculous comment. Their meaning of honor and your definition of honor is completely different.

Yes, one explanation is that the name may refer to the Arab rulers who ruled Palermo in the Saracens era, namely the Ma Afir tribe. Another possible Arabic influence is Mu Afat. Mu means courage, Afat protecting the weak against the strong.

Still, Ma Afir and Mu Afat are two completely different words from the Italian word Mafia. I don't know, maybe there's an Arabian Ma Afir out there somewhere?

Oh here's another banger, when people say shit like, "They ain't got nothing on those boys in Mexico!" when talking about LCN. Stupidest fucking shit in the world to compare any American group, much less LCN, to a thoroughly corrupt by drug profit shithole like Mexico.

The Sicilian language has been shaped by many years of foreign influence, occupation, and conquest. Unlike Italian, which is almost entirely Latin based, Sicilian has elements of Greek, Arabic, French, Catalan, and Spanish.

The name 'Ndrangheta for example has Greek origins.

I get that the word itself has other origins, but the word in and of itself is Italian. There are words even throughout the English language that is rooted in Greek, Latin, etc, they have counterparts and derivatives if you will, in other languages, but they're still English words. Some people don't mind it, and are okay calling every criminal group out there Mafia, but others like myself are a bit put off when we hear Irish Mafia or Chinese Mafia. But call it whatever you want.

Mafia has become the general term for organized crime, but I agree, for example Dutch OC should be called penoze or milieu not mafia.

Lol funny thing, I used to ask people if they think the Mafia is still out there, and they'd be like, which one? Irish? German? Etc etc Lol people don't have a clue. Lots of criminal groups past and present really have little in common with the actual Mafia. They lack the militaristic structure, codes, oaths, etc. And they're not set up to pass on from generation to generation. I also think there's the Mafia and then there's "mafia-type" groups.

That's true in dutch we find hebrew, german, french and english origins.

Thats right @H and if we look at the word "mafia", it has also a plural form which is "mafias" ("mafie" in Italian or "mafir"" in Russian something like that). Italy has "Cosa Nostra" and it has NO plural version, I mean you cannot call it "cosa nostras" or "cosa nostri" lol, or the "camorra" for which you cannot have a Italian plural word for it like the "camorras" in English lol (The declension of the noun Camorra is in singular genitive Camorra and in the plural nominative- the noun Camorra is declined with the declension endings. It does not form plurals). Maybe the Spanish also sometime use the word "camorras" but again there's no plural in Italian, and instead mainly you can call them families or clans under one of the previously mentioned criminal societies. They also have specific names for their ranks and you can rarely see some member calling other member a "mafioso" (Buschetta is probably the one who used it to easily describe the Sicilian organization to the government). The Camorra members call themselves "Camorristi", while the Sicilians use the term "men of honor" and the N'Drangheta clans are called "'Ndrine" or something like that and their whole membership is called "Andranghateia” and have specific ranks such as “crimine”. So my final point is that there are MANY "MAFIAS" out there, but there's ONLY ONE "Cosa Nostra", "Camorra" or "N'drangheta" or "Yakuza" (organization with old hierarchy) or "Russian Bratva" (same here), or the old American Jewish mob which received its seat on the Italian commission during one period with their rep Meyer Lansky etc. So how can we label the old Jewish mob with their seat on the American Cosa Nostra commission? A "Jewish Mafia", obviously because the term "mafia" has a plural version lol

@Furio????

"A don doesn't wear shorts." I just saw it again on Facebook.

"The Ivy League of Organized Crime" everytime someone tied to the Genovese Family is found to be committing petty crimes. That's getting old. I figured at least most people would know by now that mobsters are involved in crime at every level they can get into.

Saying anyone was "A major player" or "The biggest/One of the biggest" in whatever they were active in. This is used in many stories or documentaries, and not just for the Mafia either. Let's include "One of the most feared" in there too.

"Sicilians don't rat" or "Sicilians are tougher and more loyal." This couldn't be any more false. In fact, some of the newest rats to have come out lately in America are Sicilian. And don't even get me started on Sicily. Same thing goes for Calabrians, lots of Ndrangheta rats out there.

"You can't get away with stuff like that in this day and age with Big Brother and cameras everywhere."

The current Cosa Nostra-Gambino case proves them wrong. You can find similar cases from the 1960s and 70s, there's just less of it today. Arrests and roundups for racketeering charges against the mob is far from anything new. If the Lanni crew had a more cool-headed and calculated captain at the helm, who knows how many more years they would've went before an indictment.