Goombah

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Goombah (also spelled as Goomba, Goombah, Gumba, Gumbah) is a slang term referring to people of Italian descent, mainly in the US, with several related connotations.

Etymology

Goombah and similar forms probably derived as an alteration or Anglicized spelling of the common Southern Italian familiar term of address, cumpà, the apocoped oxytone form of the word cumpari found in Southern Italian dialects and compare found in Standard Italian. Compare originally defined (and it still does in certain regions of Italy) both the godfather and the godson of a Catholic Baptism; hence "benefactor, friend, family member or family friend". It is therefore commonly used as a term of endearment roughly equivalent to "friend," "brother," or "comrade" among close friends or associates (generally males) in certain parts of Southern Italy, including Campania and Sicily, where it becomes cumpà or cumpari in the regional Southern languages. It has, however, also gained a less innocuous meaning in certain criminal contexts, signifying an "accomplice," "cohort," "fellow criminal," or "partner-in-crime," though it is still mostly used among non-criminal Southern Italian males as a harmless address of affection. "Compare" and the Southern Italian "cumpà" and "cumpari" ultimately derive from the medieval Latin compater, meaning "cousin" and, later, "godfather."[1]

With the arrival of Southern Italian immigrants in America, this appellation used among Southern Italian males, cumpà, became the Anglicized "goombah" or "gumba" to American ears. As the term cumpà was commonly heard as an term of address among Italian immigrants and Italian-Americans, the Anglicized version of cumpà, or "goombah," came to be used among non-Italians as a derogatory or patronizing way to refer to Italian-Americans.

Today, especially in Italian-American slang, "goombah" is a slang noun for a companion or associate, especially a friend who acts as a patron, accomplice, protector, or adviser. When used by non-Italians to refer to Italians or Italian-Americans, however," goombah" is often derogatory in nature or deployed as an ethnic slur, implying a stereotypical Italian-American male, thug, or Mafioso.[2]

Goomba, Goombah, Gumba, Gumbah may also refer to:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Giacalone, David (April 1, 2006). "goomba goombah gumba gumbah". f/k/a.
  2. 1 2 "The Maven's Word of the Day: goombah". Words@Random. Random House, Inc. April 4, 1997. Archived from the original on April 18, 2001.
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