An Explanation for Street Names |
An Explanation for Street Names |
Feb 6 2012, 09:23 AM
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#1
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,326 Joined: 15-April 02 Member No.: 2,600 |
Mexican Gang Nicknames.
QUOTE "People in some of these neighborhoods are known more by their nicknames than their real names," says Celeste Saenz, the general secretary of Mexico's Press Club. "The nicknames give them some status, some sense of belonging to a group."
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Feb 6 2012, 05:56 PM
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#2
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Immortal Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,358 Joined: 2-December 07 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Member No.: 14,465 |
It also cuts down on the "Bob" issues.
"OK, Robert, Bob, and Bert..." "Which one am I again?" "Bob." "Oh, and him?" "Bert." "Oh, and him?" "Bert, Robert, beat the stupid out of Bob please." |
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Feb 6 2012, 06:15 PM
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#3
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 983 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 326 |
Street names have a long and colorful history extending as far back as any record I know of. They conceal true identity, serve as book cover on which one can be judged, and provide a means of distinguishing one's self from civilians or junior members. They're very common for modern criminals, particularly organized professional criminals [read: gang members, mafioso, etc], and professional criminals working in teams with unfamiliar people.
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Feb 6 2012, 06:19 PM
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#4
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Immortal Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,358 Joined: 2-December 07 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Member No.: 14,465 |
"Mr. Pink?" "Yeah, it kinda got stuck to me. Hey, I was the only one that got away at the end, you know why? I DON'T TIP!"
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Feb 6 2012, 06:47 PM
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#5
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,665 Joined: 26-April 03 From: Sweden Member No.: 4,516 |
"Mr. Pink?" "Yeah, it kinda got stuck to me. Hey, I was the only one that got away at the end, you know why? I DON'T TIP!" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif) |
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Feb 6 2012, 08:37 PM
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#6
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 583 Joined: 6-November 09 From: MTL Member No.: 17,849 |
It also cuts down on the "Bob" issues. "OK, Robert, Bob, and Bert..." "Which one am I again?" "Bob." "Oh, and him?" "Bert." "Oh, and him?" "Bert, Robert, beat the stupid out of Bob please." You laugh, but one of my players' street name is Bob. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/silly.gif) |
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Feb 6 2012, 10:10 PM
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#7
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,665 Joined: 26-April 03 From: Sweden Member No.: 4,516 |
You laugh, but one of my players' street name is Bob. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/silly.gif) Get back to me when you have a player with the street name of 'Johnson', insisting on being called 'mister' as well... |
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Feb 7 2012, 03:39 AM
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#8
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,849 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Melbourne, Australia Member No.: 872 |
One of the players in my group uses the name Cash Steel, aka. Cash.
- J. |
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Feb 7 2012, 03:42 AM
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#9
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Immortal Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,358 Joined: 2-December 07 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Member No.: 14,465 |
I have no street names. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif)
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Feb 7 2012, 06:10 AM
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#10
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,537 Joined: 27-August 06 From: Albuquerque NM Member No.: 9,234 |
Typically you get given a street name, you don't pick it out. Louis Ferrante said it was to some extent a memory trick to keep people straight, as nobody in the mob wrote down anything. It was a lot easier to remember The Chin than Vincent Gigante or Joe Batters than Antonino Accardo. In the first case it's because he had a heck of a chin, in the other it was given to him by Capone for how good he was at hitting people with baseball bats.
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Feb 7 2012, 07:18 AM
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#11
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Horror Group: Members Posts: 5,322 Joined: 15-June 05 From: BumFuck, New Jersey Member No.: 7,445 |
Get back to me when you have a player with the street name of 'Johnson', insisting on being called 'mister' as well... Too easy. Get someone to take one of the international Johnson names as their street name, like say, Monsieur Dupont (bonus points for being deprecated) or Herr Schmidt. |
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Feb 7 2012, 08:16 AM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 770 Joined: 19-August 11 From: Middle-Eastern Europe Member No.: 36,268 |
It was a lot easier to remember The Chin than Vincent Gigante or Joe Batters than Antonino Accardo. In the first case it's because he had a heck of a chin, in the other it was given to him by Capone for how good he was at hitting people with baseball bats. Actually, if I remember the anecdote right, "Chin" came from how his mother called him (similarly to Shemp Howard). |
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Feb 8 2012, 12:32 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 574 Joined: 22-June 09 From: Ucluelet - Tofino - Nanaimo Salish-Sahide Council Member No.: 17,309 |
And does anyone ever really want to ask why someone is called Joker or Scarface? Seems like it would be detrimental to ones health.
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Feb 8 2012, 04:46 AM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 983 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 326 |
I have no street names. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) You spend a lot of time being a criminal, do you? Anyway, I don't suspect CanRay's what's on your maple-leaf-shaped birth certificate, so you've got at least one street name. |
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Feb 8 2012, 08:29 PM
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#15
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,665 Joined: 26-April 03 From: Sweden Member No.: 4,516 |
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Feb 8 2012, 10:56 PM
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#16
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Immortal Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,358 Joined: 2-December 07 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Member No.: 14,465 |
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Feb 8 2012, 11:30 PM
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#17
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Runner Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,801 Joined: 2-September 09 From: Moscow, Russia Member No.: 17,589 |
A lot of people around me about my age (pretty much everyone I don't interact with in formal surroundings on a regular basis) know each other by nicknames and not names. That includes my school and university classmates, my gaming group buddies, and assorted others. We often joke that when They come to arrest us, we won't even be able to point out the accomplices by names.
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Feb 9 2012, 01:37 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 770 Joined: 19-August 11 From: Middle-Eastern Europe Member No.: 36,268 |
A lot of people around me about my age (pretty much everyone I don't interact with in formal surroundings on a regular basis) know each other by nicknames and not names. That includes my school and university classmates, my gaming group buddies, and assorted others. We often joke that when They come to arrest us, we won't even be able to point out the accomplices by names. Yeah, but it's Russia. What with the name + otchestvo deal in formal environment. Among friends, nobody's gonna bother about that. ...while we're at it, where can I find a dictionary of the Russian criminal slang? I might need it sometime soon. |
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Feb 9 2012, 04:49 PM
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#19
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Runner Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,801 Joined: 2-September 09 From: Moscow, Russia Member No.: 17,589 |
As a matter of fact, there is still a difference between addressing people by first name and by nickname... The usual form of address for equals is by first name.
Also, otchestvo translates to "patronymic name", which is as much a descriptive word. As for criminal slang, well, you can find a workable version in Vice, I believe (though some of the words seem to be made up); as for network sources, you might imagine, I've never needed fenya translated to English... |
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Feb 9 2012, 09:53 PM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 770 Joined: 19-August 11 From: Middle-Eastern Europe Member No.: 36,268 |
Normal Russian will do, if I can't understand something in normal Russian (and I understand some stuff, I'm right around, remember? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) ), I can always use an online translator or dictionary. As for Vice... Between messed-up transliteration and made-up crap there's not much I could use.
And when my players finally meet the Vladivostok outfit, the more brash of two male PCs gets called "vorykhanchik" (li'l rooster in fenya). |
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Feb 10 2012, 11:19 AM
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#21
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
I have a PC whose street name is 24th W.
He didn't really grasp the concept. |
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Feb 10 2012, 12:22 PM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 770 Joined: 19-August 11 From: Middle-Eastern Europe Member No.: 36,268 |
Hey, at least it's not 25th, he won't get in trouble with Triads with a name like that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) .
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Feb 11 2012, 06:44 PM
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#23
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Runner Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,801 Joined: 2-September 09 From: Moscow, Russia Member No.: 17,589 |
Normal Russian will do, if I can't understand something in normal Russian (and I understand some stuff, I'm right around, remember? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) ), I can always use an online translator or dictionary. As for Vice... Between messed-up transliteration and made-up crap there's not much I could use. Minding that "rooster" ("petuh") is the slang term for passive homosexuals, with all the untouchable status belonging to that caste in prison brings, your players should have been worried :3And when my players finally meet the Vladivostok outfit, the more brash of two male PCs gets called "vorykhanchik" (li'l rooster in fenya). Can't say I've heard the word "vorykhanchik" ever, though. As for dictionaries of vory sleng, if you read Russian, google is pretty generous when given queries like "словарь блатного жаргона" or "словарь фени". Most of them are decent, like this or this. |
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Feb 11 2012, 07:31 PM
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#24
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Immortal Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,358 Joined: 2-December 07 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Member No.: 14,465 |
And if your Russian is as bad as my French?
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Feb 11 2012, 08:35 PM
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#25
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 770 Joined: 19-August 11 From: Middle-Eastern Europe Member No.: 36,268 |
Minding that "rooster" ("petuh") is the slang term for passive homosexuals, with all the untouchable status belonging to that caste in prison brings, your players should have been worried :3 That's even better! Thanks a lot, those two pages should be enough.Can't say I've heard the word "vorykhanchik" ever, though. As for "vorykhan", it's in one of the fenya examples on Wikipedia. The Russian character I'm planning to introduce isn't exactly bright and he's something of a poser, so if he messes something up, it's no problem (basically, there are two brothers, Nikolai is the savvy businessman and Piotr is the muscle). And if your Russian is as bad as my French? Feeding the second link into Google Translate gives pretty decent results, at least as far as automatic translators from Slavic languages do (hint: they usually don't).
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