Difference between revisions of "Chapter 16"
(→Page 117) |
(→Page 118) |
||
| Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
'''omertà'''<br /> | '''omertà'''<br /> | ||
Italian: a code of silence and loyalty, especially associated with the Mafia and other criminal organizations in southern Italy and their offshoots in America. | Italian: a code of silence and loyalty, especially associated with the Mafia and other criminal organizations in southern Italy and their offshoots in America. | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''a roscoe he may not be carrying'''<br /> | ||
| + | "roscoe" is American gangster/slang for a gun, most often a handgun (a revolver) | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''''che figata'''''<br /> | ||
| + | An informal Italian exclamation meaning roughly "How cool!", "That’s awesome!", or "What a great thing!" | ||
| + | |||
| + | '''Chazzy's ''umbatz'''''<br /> | ||
| + | In vaudeville, burlesque, and comic radio talk, ''umbatz'' was a sound word that turned into an adjective, describing someone wild, excitable, or mentally offbeat — the kind of character who’d make noisy gestures, talk fast, or act manic, like a musical oom-pah caricature come to life. | ||
Revision as of 14:23, 16 October 2025
Contents
Page 115
Little Cosenza
a locale, possibly a Pynchon invention, Calabrian-flavored micro-enclave name riffing on real Chicago neighborhoods.
Page 116
"Liberty, out for a stroll [...] around dawn"
Page 117
"Packard Custom Eight limousine [...] no chrome, no wax job, no shine, flat black all over"
"I call it spinach"
1930s slang meaning a sarcastic dismissal, i.e., "I call it nonsense," "I don’t buy it";
Page 118
omertà
Italian: a code of silence and loyalty, especially associated with the Mafia and other criminal organizations in southern Italy and their offshoots in America.
a roscoe he may not be carrying
"roscoe" is American gangster/slang for a gun, most often a handgun (a revolver)
che figata
An informal Italian exclamation meaning roughly "How cool!", "That’s awesome!", or "What a great thing!"
Chazzy's umbatz
In vaudeville, burlesque, and comic radio talk, umbatz was a sound word that turned into an adjective, describing someone wild, excitable, or mentally offbeat — the kind of character who’d make noisy gestures, talk fast, or act manic, like a musical oom-pah caricature come to life.
