Mobster Nicknames

The recent Mafia bust has turned the blogosphere's attention to mobsters' nicknames. Contrary to popular belief, my father is not in the Mafia, but his family definitely had mobster-style nicknames, coined back when they lived in "The Neighborhood." The funniest thing about these nicknames is that they're, uh, not very creative. My grandfather's nickname was Slats, because he was skinny like a slat. One of his brothers was called Irish, because he had light hair and eyes. These nicknames were pretty necessary, though, to distinguish between all the Anthonys, Michaels and Pasquales. As I've mentioned before, Italian naming customs that cause everyone to end up with the same name can get pretty confusing.