I watched one of my favorite movies last week - Goodfellas.

 

It’s about the everyday activities of an organized mob “family.” 

 

It’s based on the non-fiction book, Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi. 

 

The film was nominated for six academy awards, with Joe Pesci winning the Oscar for best supporting actor.

 

All the main characters are Italian, which is understandable given the subject matter.

 

 Being from the east coast, I’m familiar with the Italian culture, and one of the things that stands out in the film is the use of nicknames. 

 

 In our old neighborhood, which was known as the Italian Village, there plenty of guys named Pete, Mike, Paulie, Richie, Joey, Tony, Jimmy and Frankie. To keep things straight, we had to use nicknames, or else no one would know who we were talking about. 

 

Early in the Goodfellas story, the main character Henry Hill introduces some of the family: Fat Andy, Freddy No-nose, Pete the Killer, Mickey Eyes and Jimmy Two-Times.

 

Some of the nicknames  were based on physical characteristics, like the Freddy No-nose and Fat Andy characters. Others were named because of what they did, like Pete the Killer.

 

Lots of guys in our old neighborhood had nicknames. There was Frankie Dirt, which I think had something to do with hygiene.

 

There was Stosh, a guy who we played playground basketball with. He was older than the rest of us, and I was told he was once a high school basketball star. He usually had a bottle of liquor in his pocket. At first I thought his nickname was a play on the word “Scotch.” But I found out he had a long Polish name no one could pronounce. 

 

Another Polish guy on our block was called “Yuyu,” which I think was a European pronunciation of Joey. His brothers were Tommy and Paulie. They had no nicknames.

 

There was a Hispanic guy in the neighborhood people called “Junie,” which was short for Junior. I never did find out his real name, or who “Senior” was.

 

I went to grammar school with Gonzalo Ortiz. Everyone called him “Gonz.”

 

We called Mario Benitez “Gomer” after the character Gomer Pyle because he was into military stuff.

 

I played on a hockey team with a few players who had nicknames.

 

“Gerbs” was our goalie. His real name was Mike Gerbino, but we already two other Mikes on the team. Mike Donofrio we called “Frio,” and Mike Colasurdo we just called Mike.

 

When I started working for a shipping company after high school, lots of the guys had nicknames.

 

There was “Mac,” “Tiny,” “Shorty,” “Heavy”  and “Doc.” 

 

I know “Mac” was short for McKenzie. “Tiny” was a huge guy. “Heavy” was a big guy. “Shorty” was a small guy. I know “Doc” wasn’t a doctor, but I don’t know where his nickname came from.

 

I was the only Ken in the neighborhood, in school and at work, so I never had a nickname that stuck. A few people who didn’t know me called me “Whitey,” which would be politically incorrect today, especially in the diverse neighborhood where I grew up. 

 

But I knew it wasn’t because of the color of my skin. When I was younger, my hair was almost white. 

 

Then there was they guy on our block known as “Tank.” He was about 250 pounds, never smiled and everyone stayed away from him. 

 

I never asked him his real name.