Mamalukes

Everyone knows a mamaluke. Mamalukes are everywhere. They're not overly common but they're not particularly scarce either. What? You don't know what a mamaluke is? Serious? Well, in case some of you don't know, I guess I should tell you.

A mamaluke is an Italian word, actually an Italian slang word, for someone who does something dumb, stupid, silly or foolish. (Or is dumb, stupid, silly, or foolish.) Also, it can describe someone who doesn't fit in for reasons I'll get into in a minute.

Let's say you're a cool Italian dude and you hang out with a bunch of other cool Italian dudes -- which most Italian dudes are, cool that is -- you may or may not let someone who is a mamaluke hang out with you and your friends. If you do -- because you have heart or something -- you and your friends will still often let that person know they're a mamaluke and let them know often, in spite of everyone having a heart.

Mamaluke is a word that's almost always aimed at guys, that is, males of the Italian-American persuasion.  It's not a particularly hostile or mean-spirited word. It is an insult, but not a huge insult. Calling someone a mamaluke is often said with a smile, but with a slightly disgusted shake of the head. (Not real disgust,  more like feigned or pretend disgust) You don't usually call a stranger a mamaluke unless you know something about them which means they're not a total stranger. Not really. They're at least known to you, even if what you know is only that they're a mamaluke.  Generally, you have to know someone to know if they're a mamaluke or not, which excludes most total strangers, but not always. That's because a total stranger could be walking down the street and they just look like a mamaluke. If someone looks like a mamaluke, stranger or not, odds are they probably are a mamaluke. Just saying.

Mamaluke is a word -- a label, name, or insult -- mostly reserved for friends or family. It's also a teasing kind of word. You can tease someone by calling them a mamaluke even if they're not a mamaluke. Calling someone a mamaluke is not usually said as part of some fighting words. There are words that are fighting words amongst Italians but mamaluke isn't usually one of them.

Don Corleone chastising Johnny Fontaine for unmanly behavior

Mamaluke can also be used to insult a guy's masculinity. Let's say one of your friends is totally ruled by their mother, sister, girlfriend, or wife. If so, there's a good chance they are a mamaluke and a better chance, leastwise amongst my friends and I, that we'll let a mamluke know they're a mamaluke, and we'll let them know often and plenty.

Remember the scene from The Godfather when Don Corleone slapped Johnny Fontaine for not being a man? The Don was disgusted to the point where simply calling Johnny Fontaine a mamaluke wasn't going to cut it. Johnny went way beyond the mamaluke stage when he cried in front of the Don.  He deserved to get smacked-- not whacked, but smacked.

I had a cousin. His name was Sonny. (RIP Sonny.) That's what everyone called him. But Sonny wasn't his real name. His real given name was Santillo.   Sonny was older than me. He was almost the same age as my Dad, maybe two or three years younger than him. I loved Sonny. We got along great. Sonny lived with his mother from the day he was born till the day he died. He was probably in his mid-sixties when he died from the cancer. (His Mom, my Aunt Mary, was my Dad's oldest sister and, sadly, she survived her son, Sonny.)  But, as much as I loved Sonny, he was still a mamaluke. I wouldn't call Sonny a mamaluke to his face because I loved and respected him. I didn't refrain from calling Sonny a mamaluke because of what he might do. I simply didn't want to hurt his feelings.  But Sonny was a mamaluke nonetheless, and I wasn't the only person in the family who considered him to be a mamaluke or called him a mamaluke behind his back. By the way, you wouldn't call Sonny a mamaluke to his mother either because that would get you in big trouble. Not only with the rest of the family, but you might risk getting smacked in the head with a cast iron frying pan or something.

Arab mercenary: A Mameluke

People who study where words come from think the Italian word, "mamaluke," comes from an Arabic word, "Mameluke" or "Mamluke."

The Mamelukes/Mamlukes were Arab soldiers, mercenaries who sold their services to Napoleon. The uniforms the Mamlukes wore were either white turbans or some silly hats, vests, bright red pantaloons and boots. Many Italians from those days thought the Mamelukes looked foolish or silly. Especially, for being warriors. They thought they looked anything but manly. So, the label "mamaluke" was likely born to describe a guy who is foolish, silly, or unmanly, i.e., not a real man; leastwise, the Italian version of what a real man is supposed to be... which is anything but a mamaluke!