He would say words like Bruculino meaning Brooklyn or "Levamano"
meaning nevermind. In my childhood I heard these expressions and thought they
were Italian....or at least Sicilian. But what really surprised me was those
living in Sicily used the same expressions. I guess there was enough dialogue
exchange to blend some of these bastardized words back into the language. For
example, a cousin would say "truvasti travaggiu n' Brucculinu. Comu ti
pari u bossu nuovo" (Did you find work in Brooklyn? What do you think of
your new boss"). Today I spoke with a Sicilian woman who was visiting her
family in the US. She also spoke Sicilianese.
Some words are derived simply by adding a vowel at the end as in
"stoppa" for stop. Not specific to Sicilian derivatives are
expression made popular by American media: Boccigallu saying “wa sa matta u” in some tv
sitcom. Neopolitan derivatives have a tendency to drop the last vowel as in “prosciut
and other expressions heard in shows like the Sopranos. (entirely overdone and
somewhat degrading. Try that with other cultures like the American Indians and
see what happens). Others have
historical roots such as the word for bathroom, "bec cau su",
originally from back house. And then others are a bit more complicated. The words "salamagonia" and
salamabicci" are " son of a gun" and son of a bitch"
respectively.
I am posting a sample list of Sicilianese words. Please feel free to include new words in your
comments. I will add them to my post.
Truck- tru cu
car- car ru
bus- bus su
boss- bos su
stove- stu fa
washing machine- wa schi ma chi na
dish washer - di sci wa sci
bathroom - bec cau su
bedroom - bed di ru mu
kitchen- chi cen ni
basement - ba sa men tu
bronx- bron chi si
brooklyn - bruc cu li no
orchard street - o ci stri ti
never mind - lev va ma nu
never mind - lev va ma nu
son of a bitch – sa la ma bic ci
son of a gun –sa la ma go gnia
gasoline – gasolina
check book – che ki boo cu
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