Goombah
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''Goombah'' is a slang term for people of
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
descent, mainly in the United States.


Etymology

''Goombah'' and similar forms derived as an alteration or Anglicized spelling of the common Southern Italian familiar term of address, ''cumpà'', the
apocope In phonology, apocope () is the omission (elision) or loss of a sound or sounds at the end of a word. While it most commonly refers to the loss of a final vowel, it can also describe the deletion of final consonants or even entire syllables. ...
d
oxytone In linguistics, an oxytone (; from the , ', 'sharp-sounding') is a word with the stress on the last syllable, such as the English words ''correct'' and ''reward''. It contrasts with a paroxytone, stressed on the penultimate (second-last) syll ...
form of the word ''cumpari'' found in Southern Italian dialects and ''compare'' found in Standard Italian, which denotes a companion or friend. It is therefore commonly used as a term of endearment roughly equivalent to "friend," "brother," or "comrade" among close friends or associates (generally males) in certain parts of
Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...
, including
Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
and
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, where it becomes ''cumpà'' or ''cumpari'' in the regional Southern languages. It has, however, also gained a less innocuous meaning even in Italy in certain criminal contexts, signifying an "accomplice," "cohort," "fellow criminal," or "partner-in-crime," though it is still mostly used among non-criminal Southern Italian males as a harmless address of affection. ''Compare'' and the Southern Italian ''cumpà'' and ''cumpari'' ultimately derive from the medieval Latin ''compater'', meaning "cousin" and, later, "godfather."


Social connotations

With the arrival of Southern Italian immigrants in America, the greeting used among Southern Italian males, ''cumpà,'' became Anglicized as "goombah" or "gumba", and spread among non-
Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...
s as a derogation, often implying its subject was involved in some degree with criminality or had connections to the
Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
. Today, especially in Italian-American slang, "goombah" is a term for a companion or associate, especially a friend who acts as a patron, accomplice, protector, or adviser. When used by non-Italians to refer to Italians or Italian-Americans, "goombah" is often derogatory, implying a stereotypical Italian-American male, thug, or mafioso.


Examples

In the 1950s, boxer/actor
Rocky Graziano Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing ...
and
Martha Raye Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including on Broadway. She was hono ...
used the term in the original sense for NBC's ''The Martha Raye Show''. In the ''Chrysler Presents A
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...
Comedy Special'' NBC TV program (original air date September 27, 1963), singer
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
introduced Italian-American singer
Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...
as follows: "And now here's America's number one goombah, singing his new Reprise hit 'Via Veneto', il signore Deano Martin." Derogatory use of the term is portrayed the 1969 publication of
Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author and screenwriter. He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' (1969), which h ...
's ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'' and the highly popular movie made from it, which contained dialogue such as "I don't care how many guinea Mafia goombahs come out of the woodwork" or, in the film, "I don't care how many dago
guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
wop greaseball goombahs come outta the woodwork". In 2016, U.S. Senator
Mark Kirk Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) is an American retired politician and attorney who served as a United States senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017, and as the United States representative for Illinois's 10th congressional district f ...
used the term in reference to what he regarded as unqualified political hires at a veterans' nursing home: " Blagojevich's people ordered [
Tammy Duckworth Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard Lieutenant colonel (United States), lieutenant colonel serving since 2017 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States ...
] to take on some political operatives and I would call them goombahs in the Anna Nursing home facility that she was in charge of", drawing bemused commentary for his "'' The Sopranos, Sopranos'' throwback moment".


See also

*
Anti-Italianism Anti-Italianism or Italophobia is a negative attitude regarding Italians or people with Italian ancestry, often expressed through the use of prejudice, discrimination or stereotypes. Often stemming from xenophobia, anti-Catholic sentiment and jo ...
* Goomba * Goomah * Guappo *
Guido (slang) ''Guido'' (, ) is a North American subculture, slang term, and ethnic slur referring to working-class urban Italian-Americans. The guido stereotype is multi-faceted. More recently, it has come to refer to working-class urban Italian-Americans w ...
*'' Paesano'' *
Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...
* Wop


References

{{Reflist Pejorative terms for European people Anti-Italian sentiment Ethnic and racial stereotypes Italian language in the United States Italian-American culture Italian-American history English words Pejorative terms for white people