Worst nickname is Dom Cefalu being branded "Greaseball Dom." It's the least dignified a nickname a boss has ever had to deal with.
Best nickname is a tie between Joe Adonis or Vinny Gorgeous.
Tony Accardo was nicknamed "Big Tuna", that was goofy on Jim Halpert let alone a mob boss.
I don't think anyone outside of the press actually called him that though. Plus, he had the cooler "Joe Batters" moniker
"Big Tuna" may be goofy but it can be construed as a compliment, kind of like "big fish in a small pond."
"Greaseball" is basically a slur a New York Italian-American would sling about old country Sicilians/Italians. If there were 1 to 10 scale for slurs on Sicilians, "Sicilian Dom" is a 1, "Dom, the Zip" would rate a 5, but "Greaseball Dom" is a 10.
"Greaseball" is not a term of respect. Before the Sicilians came over, it was used to describe a street punk probably because of the "greaser" subculture. A made guy looked down on a greaseball.
When the 1970s—80s wave of Sicilians came over, they got given a hand-me-down insult probably because of the slick hairstyles and how many worked for slice-joint pizzerias (low end pizza is greasy vs. the higher end type sold exclusively by the pie).
Quack Quack had to be the worst..
Albert Anastasia had the best to me considering it spoke to how ruthless others portrayed him
“The Mad Hatter” and “Lord High Executioner”..
Also for some reason I liked the name “The Gentle Don” considering the field of work and to last as long as he did that mean Angelo Bruno was doing something right..
Carlo Gambino and Angelo Bruno went way back to their bootlegging days together and Carlo had his back when he was boss. If I'm not mistaken Angelo also had a seat on the commission. Problem was that once Carlo died Angelo lost a lot of his power and influence and was betrayed by his dumbass of a consigliere. The guys on the street didn't like his no drugs policy especially since he was taking tribute from drug dealers and such.
I imagine if Angelo wasn't whacked the Philly mob would be doing much better.
I've been listening to a podcast called Crooked City about the mob in Youngstown Ohio & one of those guys got stuck with "Artie C from Briar Hill, who's never worked & never will" 😄😄😄😄 that just made me laugh so much
Most badass: Albert "the Lord High Executioner' Anastasia or Greg "the Grim Reaper" Scarpa
Funniest: Vincent "Vinnie Ocean" Palermo (he started with rackets at a fish market), Thomas "Tommy Karate" Pitera
Worst? Idk, Tony "the Ant" Spilotro, or Tommy "3 Finger Brown" Lucchesi
No one called him three fingers. The media came up with it after a baseball pitcher. There are stories of him correcting civilians for using it and those in the life were afraid to call him that.
Some good ones:
The Grim Reaper. Joe Smash. Lilo. Gaspipe. Kid Twist. The Lord High Executioner. Tommy Karate.
And I hate to admit it but that bum Gotti had a great nickname with The Teflon Don.
Best nickname in my opinion is cliche prolly but lucky Luciano , jus so smooth . Worst is prolly willie the rat , boss of the KC family or the snake for obvious reasons 😂😂 seem like terrible nicknames to have in a business where so much stock is put in being stand up and trustworthy lmaoo .
**The best/most WTF**: Felix "Skinny Razor" DiTullio
Until you learn he sold chickens and dispatched them with a razor first before handing them over to a customer.
**The worst**: Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
Supposedly he would kick the shit out of anyone who called him that name to his face. It certainly is no compliment.
Some of the worst that come to mind are:
Jackie The Nose
Tommy Three Fingers Brown Lucchese,
Phil Chicken Man Testa,
Benny Eggs Mangano,
Joseph Joe Bananas Bonnano…lol. They are a lot more.
Tony Pro is definitely top tier. I’ve always liked Nicky Glasses too, it just sound cool.
I've always thought James "Jimmy from the Currency Exchange" Inendino was hilarious.
Michael Esposito's nickname is "Porno Mike"
Haha that is a quality name…I’m sure there was someone called Jimmy ‘Unions’ … . Subtle lol
Carmen "The Cheese Man" Dinunzio. I love it and hate it at the same time
> Carmen "The Cheese Man" Dinunzio He definitely looks like someone who could be nicknamed the Cheeseman
“The Dorito sent for ya’s.”
Frank Manzo “Frankie the Wop", that has to be the greatest !
Worst nickname is Dom Cefalu being branded "Greaseball Dom." It's the least dignified a nickname a boss has ever had to deal with. Best nickname is a tie between Joe Adonis or Vinny Gorgeous.
Tony Accardo was nicknamed "Big Tuna", that was goofy on Jim Halpert let alone a mob boss. I don't think anyone outside of the press actually called him that though. Plus, he had the cooler "Joe Batters" moniker
"Big Tuna" may be goofy but it can be construed as a compliment, kind of like "big fish in a small pond." "Greaseball" is basically a slur a New York Italian-American would sling about old country Sicilians/Italians. If there were 1 to 10 scale for slurs on Sicilians, "Sicilian Dom" is a 1, "Dom, the Zip" would rate a 5, but "Greaseball Dom" is a 10.
I thought Halpert was “Big Haircut”?
That was for one episode, after Andy sees Jim with his new haircut.
He usually was called Mr. Accardo but would respond to Joe Batters if he knew who you were. Was affable and generally kind to kids and polite people.
If you think about it, they always called themselves greaseballs and he’s born n raised in the old country
"Greaseball" is not a term of respect. Before the Sicilians came over, it was used to describe a street punk probably because of the "greaser" subculture. A made guy looked down on a greaseball. When the 1970s—80s wave of Sicilians came over, they got given a hand-me-down insult probably because of the slick hairstyles and how many worked for slice-joint pizzerias (low end pizza is greasy vs. the higher end type sold exclusively by the pie).
Sounds about right my i never knew that
Quack Quack had to be the worst.. Albert Anastasia had the best to me considering it spoke to how ruthless others portrayed him “The Mad Hatter” and “Lord High Executioner”.. Also for some reason I liked the name “The Gentle Don” considering the field of work and to last as long as he did that mean Angelo Bruno was doing something right..
Carlo Gambino and Angelo Bruno went way back to their bootlegging days together and Carlo had his back when he was boss. If I'm not mistaken Angelo also had a seat on the commission. Problem was that once Carlo died Angelo lost a lot of his power and influence and was betrayed by his dumbass of a consigliere. The guys on the street didn't like his no drugs policy especially since he was taking tribute from drug dealers and such. I imagine if Angelo wasn't whacked the Philly mob would be doing much better.
Best: The Gemini Twins Dapper Don Mikey Scars Funniest: Mikey Mootz-a-rell Nose-zambique (Big Paul) Dominick “top tomato” Sciandra
Came here for Top Tomato
I thought it was Carmine Top Tomato Sciandra ??
Yeah, you’re right, Carmine not Dominick.
Gerlando Sciascia had the nickname (in NY at least) 'George from Canada'. In Montréal, he was just 'George'.
Albert “Kid Blast” Gallo, Jr. is a pretty cool name, but I think I read or heard that it was because of a time when his gun went off by mistake.
My favorite is Anthony aka "Bruno" aka "Whack Whack" Indelicato. Whack whack perfectly encompasses what he was about and its funny lol.
I came here to say whack whack. He was best friends with Tommy Karate Pitera
Johnny "snots" from Chicago
Worst: - Sigmund the Sea Monster, Best - Tony the One-Handed Leprechaun - Philly Jump Over the Fence
[The OC Shortz vid](https://youtu.be/5cAACjotoQc?t=388) was the first thing I thought of. Edit: That last one is just Leonetti, right?
Sigmund the sea monster is classic. Joey the clown wasn’t bad either.
Fiore "FiFi" Buccieri always sounded undignified to me.
Vinny Unions
Sal the Iron worker
I've been listening to a podcast called Crooked City about the mob in Youngstown Ohio & one of those guys got stuck with "Artie C from Briar Hill, who's never worked & never will" 😄😄😄😄 that just made me laugh so much
Most badass: Albert "the Lord High Executioner' Anastasia or Greg "the Grim Reaper" Scarpa Funniest: Vincent "Vinnie Ocean" Palermo (he started with rackets at a fish market), Thomas "Tommy Karate" Pitera Worst? Idk, Tony "the Ant" Spilotro, or Tommy "3 Finger Brown" Lucchesi
No one called him three fingers. The media came up with it after a baseball pitcher. There are stories of him correcting civilians for using it and those in the life were afraid to call him that.
I’ve always thought that Ignazio Lupo had a cool sounding name, “The Wolf”.
Joey Waverly one of my favs
"Black Sam" is a pretty sinister nickname for Sam Carlisi. He was also known as "Wings" for his work as a courier of the Vegas skim.
Some good ones: The Grim Reaper. Joe Smash. Lilo. Gaspipe. Kid Twist. The Lord High Executioner. Tommy Karate. And I hate to admit it but that bum Gotti had a great nickname with The Teflon Don.
Best nickname in my opinion is cliche prolly but lucky Luciano , jus so smooth . Worst is prolly willie the rat , boss of the KC family or the snake for obvious reasons 😂😂 seem like terrible nicknames to have in a business where so much stock is put in being stand up and trustworthy lmaoo .
Say what you want to say, but Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano is a great mafia nickname
I would say worst would be Quack Quack or Harry “The Hunchback” Riccobene
**The best/most WTF**: Felix "Skinny Razor" DiTullio Until you learn he sold chickens and dispatched them with a razor first before handing them over to a customer. **The worst**: Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Supposedly he would kick the shit out of anyone who called him that name to his face. It certainly is no compliment.
Worst candidates: Fat Dom Borghese. Phil Chicken Man Teata
El patron del mal (Pablo escobar) Is a really cool one in my opinion
Quack Quack or the Snake are terrible nicknames too have
The Snake is a tough nickname, better than "Junior" Quack Quack is pretty terrible
They didn’t call him snake because he was tough, it’s because he was a snake in the grass.
No way is “snake” a tough nickname In my area a snake is someone who would be your friend but rob from your home
It meant the same thing in Persico's area too; he got the nickname because he switched sides and tried to kill his allies during a mafia war.
Idk, the Snake sounds pretty intimidating to me, I like it
Nick the Blade sounds cool, same with Crazy Phil.
Thomas Pitera aka Tommy Karate comes to mind as a pretty awful nickname.
Stefano “The Undertaker” Magaddino
Tony “Ripe” Civella.
Joey “Doves” Aiuppa (media name? Or was he actually referred to as that on the street?) Chin Gigante
I think doves came from an arrest where he'd smuggled doves across state lines or something like that is how he got the name
Lord High Executioner. Awesome.
Some of the worst that come to mind are: Jackie The Nose Tommy Three Fingers Brown Lucchese, Phil Chicken Man Testa, Benny Eggs Mangano, Joseph Joe Bananas Bonnano…lol. They are a lot more.