The Arm: Buffalo crime family of Cosa Nostra
B & E: robbery accomplished by breaking and entering
Bag Man: a conveyor of money
Banana Race: a fixed horse race
Biscuit: a gun
Boosters: smalltime street thieves
Bust out: to bankrupt
Case: to check out, to size up
Clean: not carrying a gun
Clip: to make money from
The Commission: the ruling body of the Cosa Nostra, consisting of from nine to twelve bosses of crime families.
Consigliere: an adviser
Contract: an assignment to murder
Cooler: a stacked deck of cards
Cool-off Man: accomplice in a crooked gambling game who calms down a heavy loser
Cop: to steal
Cosa Nostra: close-knit criminal society whose members are of Italian-Sicilian ethnic origin only; sometimes called the Mafia, which was its Sicilian antecedent
Crime family: a unit of Cosa Nostra operating in a specific territory, composed of men tied together by loyalty to their crime boss and sometimes by actual blood relationship.
Don: a ranking boss of crime family, usually applied to men born in Sicily
Enforcer: a hoodlum who beats or kills for his superior
Envelope: a cash payment
Fence: one who specializes in handling stolen merchandise
Finger: to mark for murder; to inform on
Gaff: a phoney
Greaseball: an old-country Italian Sicilian; someone of Italian origin who looks or acts slovenly
Hack: prison guard
Half-assed wiseguy: one who aspires to Cosa Nostra membership
Headcrusher: an enforcer, a strongarm man
Headhunter: an assassin
Heat: unwanted attention from the law or the press
Hit: a murder assignment, or a murder; to murder
Hit the mattress: to go into hiding
The Honored Society: the Mafia of Sicily
Hot items: stolen goods
Juice: loanshark interest
Juiced horse: a doped horse
Legbreaker: a hoodlum who beats people for his superior
Made guy: an indoctrinated member of the Cosa Nostra
Mafioso: strictly speaking, an elder statesman and former member of the original Mafia of Sicily and the United States.
Make: to identify; also, to induct as a member of the Mafia
Man of respect: a ranking, senior member of a crime family
Mechanics: card and dice manipulators who rigs games
The meets: a confrence of criminals
The mob: a crime family; the entire Cosa Nostra; often loosely interpreted to mean a confederation of criminal organizations with members of varying ethnic backgrounds
Mustache Pete: an elder statesman and former member of the original Mafia; in the early 1900s, they were famed for their long mustaches.
The Office: New England crime family of Cosa Nostra
On the arm: on credit
On the pad: paying regular bribes
The Outfit: Chicago crime family of Cosa Nostra
Pigeon: an informer
Put the X on: to designate for murder
Put to sleep: to murder
Queer: counterfeit
Right arm: underboss
Score: money made from a criminal enterprise; to make money criminally
Serious headache: a bullet in the head
Serious trouble: about to be murdered
Shills: hirelings who play in rigged games in order to draw in victims; they are often "mechanics"
Shiv: knife
Sitdown: a criminal meeting; a mob peace conference
Stone killer: a particularly cold-hearted professional murderer
Stoolie: an informer
Straight: a noncriminal
Uncle Sugar: the FBI
Whack out: to murder; also, to astound or overwhelm
Wiseguy: same as a made guy; an indoctrinated member of the Cosa Nostra
