Any Italians here? Looking for translations

[Monkeyleg]

I love gangster movies. There's lots of Italian expressions in them that I can't find the translations to, though.

For example, in "Donnie Brasco," Sonny Red is walking down to his basement to get the guns to kill Sonny Black and his crew. He says, "He won't know what hit him, that stunado."

The closest word I can find to "stunado" is "stunad," which the online dictionaries say means stupid or dull. Is this correct?

In The Godfather, Sonny says, "Paulie sold out the old man, that stunz." Checking online, it seems like "stunz" also means stupid or dim-witted. Right or wrong?

Lastly, again in "Donnie Brasco," Donnie is talking about the phrase "forget about it," and mentions "mingia those peppers." What does that mean? Any idea?

Thanks for any replies.

[never_retreat]

The problem your having is that its all slang words.
mingia is penis or dick I believe.

"stunz" also means stupid or dim-witted. Right or wrong?

Stupid in Italian would be stupido similar to Spanish. so I'm not quite sure on that one.
stunado I believe is also just without the "o" stunad being stupid person. In US slang it would be "dumb ass"
"He won't know what hit him, that dumb ass."

[Monkeyleg]

mingia is penis or dick I believe.

That's what I've found. But the script says "mingia those peppers." Doesn't make sense.

[Antibubba]

Does that clear things up Mingialeg?
 

[220_SWIFT]

Strunz: strunzo—piece of S#!T.

[Monkeyleg]

Somehow I don't think that "penis those peppers" is the type of food Johnny Depp had in mind when he read his lines.

When he said it, the words sounded more like "menios and peppers," but I can't find anything like that. Maybe whoever put the movie script online just plugged "mingia" in.

[280plus]

Stunad does indicate stupidity although I can't give you the literal translation. I know I've heard it in the past at Granny's house. lol...

Is it possible that Depp said mangia? (MON-ja) That would be eat. If not then there's minga which, given the context if he was talking about someone and refering to them as peppers, I'd say "Eff those peppers" might be close. Never saw Donnie Brasco so I don't know.

Personally, I hate gangster movies that involve Italians. They always overdo the Italian thing with the Joisey accent and the hand motions. The friggin Sopranos are the WORST, I can't watch more than 5 minutes of that show, it just irritates the hell out of me. "Badda bing Badda boom" nobody ever said that around my house! First time I ever heard it was on TV. Then the use of the hand motion where you place all the fingers together palm upward and shake it at people. They seem to use that in every scene. 

The other one (even though it was real) was "Living Gotti" (I think). Them kids were way over the top on the Italian gangster schtick and I guarantee it was for the cameras. I wanted to go over there and beat it out of them. 

The Godfather wasn't too bad but they DID have a consultant from the Italian Anti Defamation League on that set during filming.

The funniest slang term I think is "mullion" (mool-YON), which is used in reference to black folk. It means "eggplant". No offense meant to any of my black folk friends here but you have to admit, the Italians have a way with words.  First time I said "Dad, what does mullion mean?" and he told me I almost fell over.

[280plus]

heh, you got me thinking about the old days other words and phrases heard regularly when grandma and grandpa were going at it. Not necessarily spelled right, I'm going by sound. Stunad was pretty common and usually accompanied by the previously described hand motion., Sta-ta-ZEET = Shut up.

 There's another one that escapes me right now but they also had this thing where Grandpa would say, "Because I'm the KING!!" and grandma would say, "Yea, King of the ba-COUSE!!" Which may or may not have Italian roots but it meant "King of the Backhouse" or the outhouse.

Different dialects will end the words by dropping the last vowel, which explains the Stunada / Stunad thing. it may be a formal / informal thing. I don't know. Like mannicotti which in our dialect the 'i' is dropped so it's manni-COTT to me and the cott is pronounced more like  "ought" manni-GAWT. Same thing with ricotta, we pronounce it ri-GAWT and we roll the "r" a bit. But there are others who will pronounce it just like it looks.

[Monkeyleg]

Thanks for the replies.

In the movie, Donnie Brasco is asked by a couple of agents who are monitoring his wire what "fuhgettaboutit" means. He says something like, "It's like if you agree that menios(?) and peppers is the greatest thing in the world, you say 'fuhgettaboutit.'"

I've seen other gangster movies where some Italian character refers to a black person as "eggplant." Maybe it's common. It's funny, whatever it means.

Then there's "mamaluke." I think that's supposed to mean stupid as well.

Strange that, in movies where the worst four-letter words are used constantly, the gangsters would use mild words like "stunad" or "stunz" or "mamaluke" to describe their enemies.

[280plus]

Fuggetaboutit is pretty much another movie type word. it may have seen use in NY or Jersey but not around here. Except for maybe the people who want you to know how Italian they are. lol...

Mamaluke is along the same lines as dumbass I'd say. Then there's the maluc (ma-LUKE) which is like a hex, "I'm a gonna put the MALUC on you!" 

They also used "ja-BREW". Jabrew (sp?) is a msytical far away place were everyone is sloppily dressed. If we came in looking raggy they'd ask, "Where are you from, Jabrew?" or "You look like you're from Jabrew?" I have no idea, once again, if there are Italian roots to that or it was a precursor to places like East Bumf***. 

[Monkeyleg]

Where's "around here"? Nebraska?

I've heard non-Italian New Yorkers use "fuhgettaboutit," so I don't think it's necessarily confined to movies or Italians.

[280plus]

Connecticut is around here,,,somewhere.  lol...

Of course, I moved away from the shore area long ago which is where most of the Eyetalians live. We don't have nearly as many up here around Hartford. You got to know where to go to get Italian style pizza or you'll end up with what the Greeks call pizza *shudder*.

If you see a sign that says "Apizza", pronounced ah-BEETS, you know you're in the right place. ;-).

Granny used to swap that around with pronouncing pizza like it's spelled, with a short "I" not "PEET-za" but "PIT-za". They had some really funny ways. If you were sick the aunts would put water in a dish, float drops of olive oil on it and say some kind of prayer. That was supposed to cure you. 

I miss all the old folk. Only one left and she's 91. 

[Bob F.]

Lots to be said for the "old folks" and the old ways.

Bob

[Uncle Bubba]

Stunad does indicate stupidity although I can't give you the literal translation. I know I've heard it in the past at Granny's house. lol...

Is it possible that Depp said mangia? (MON-ja) That would be eat. If not then there's minga which, given the context if he was talking about someone and refering to them as peppers, I'd say "Eff those peppers" might be close. Never saw Donnie Brasco so I don't know.

Personally, I hate gangster movies that involve Italians. They always overdo the Italian thing with the Joisey accent and the hand motions. The friggin Sopranos are the WORST, I can't watch more than 5 minutes of that show, it just irritates the hell out of me. "Badda bing Badda boom" nobody ever said that around my house! First time I ever heard it was on TV. Then the use of the hand motion where you place all the fingers together palm upward and shake it at people. They seem to use that in every scene. 

The other one (even though it was real) was "Living Gotti" (I think). Them kids were way over the top on the Italian gangster schtick and I guarantee it was for the cameras. I wanted to go over there and beat it out of them. 

The Godfather wasn't too bad but they DID have a consultant from the Italian Anti Defamation League on that set during filming.

The funniest slang term I think is "mullion" (mool-YON), which is used in reference to black folk. It means "eggplant". No offense meant to any of my black folk friends here but you have to admit, the Italians have a way with words.  First time I said "Dad, what does mullion mean?" and he told me I almost fell over.

I don't think I've ever heard "mullion" from any of the (predominately New York) Italians I've known. At least not the whole word. "Moolie", which I guess is a diminutive, is what I've heard. "Moolie bastahd didn't tip me!" a bartender I once worked with said one night when a black customer stiffed him. I'd never heard it before and asked him about it, so he explained the eggplant reference. Of course I had to look it up first chance I got. The actual Italian word is "melanzana" and pronounced pretty close to the way you showed.

Slight thread drift: Our childrens' doctor is Korean, Dr. Moo Hee Lee. One day last year my wife had to call the insurance company about something childrens' health-related and the CSR she got was a very pleasant-sounding young black man. While gathering information he asked for the childrens' pediatrician's name and Miss Priss said, "Moo Lee." He said, "Excuse me?!" MP said, more slowly, "Doctor Moo Lee. He's Korean." and spelled it. The CSR started laughing and told her he was from New York and thought she'd decided to insult him for some unknown reason. Then he had to explain further because MP had never heard or heard of the term before. I had a good laugh at that one. MP makes sure to use the doctor's full name when anyone asks now.

[280plus]

yea, I could see where that might be a little tricky. 

I've never heard the shortened version before but it sounds right to me.