You used the word “pezzonovante” and that made me look it up:
“It comes from the Italian “Pezzo da novanta” which literally means “ninety caliber cannon”. It’s a World War One reference about large artillery used on the Italian / Austrian front. Immigrants to the US used it to refer to powerful men such as attorneys, judges, or mob chieftains.”
Funny, my maternal grandfather fought on that front in the Alps for the Italian army, and was captured by the Austrians.
After the war, he went back to the coal mines, and said the hell with his and came to America in 1920 with his wife, his son and his daughter, who became my mother.
He died when I was nine. He was tough. After the war he stepped into the church three times—once when his son got married, once when his daughter got married, and the third time when they carried his casket in for his funeral mass.
The reason? He said as a wounded POW, he was so horribly treated by the Austrian nuns, he swore off his church from that time on.
When our tempers flare in our family, usually toward some injustice done toward others, not internally, we still call it the temper with his last name. My older sisters have it worse than me—cross them and you are a dead man walking!
:) Italian tempers are brutal. Just lost mine for reasons I wont go into!!
What is it with us??!
Yeah, I heard that word from my uncles talking about politicians. Even the ones who were connected used it to talk about mob connections.
They’re deceased now so no biggy in letting it out that they were with the boys.
Your father’s story about nuns I have heard before. Brutal back in the day in more than a few countries.
I dont know why. There’s a movie called “The Magdalene Sisters” which i wont watch because it is propaganda. But it’s the story of two women terribly abused by nuns after being taken in.
The nuns I knew were ok, some were nice, some were a little off and one was a commie :) I reported her at 10 years old :)
Little Conservative soldier even then!!
Too bad your grandfather had to go through that.
And yeah, there was no money to be made in Italy. I think more would have come but they lowered the numbers allowed towards the end.