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What's the word used to call a mafia boss' subordinates? I looked up in dictionary. There are: stooge, lingman, henchman, minion, yes man, lackey, underling. But I don't know which word sounds most natural in this context, the context of crime, drugs, mafia, etc. For example: The mafia boss ordered his..................to kidnap a that man's wife. Which one should I use? Thank you.
13 de mar de 2019 13:06
Respostas · 3
For someone who is a high level subordinate, I would use "consigliere." For a low level subordinate, I would use "muscle."
13 de março de 2019
Henchman is the best choice of all of these because it means both (i) subordinate, and (ii) criminal. “Thug” would be another good choice: it always implies criminality, but it does not necessarily mean subordinate (depends on context). “Muscle” is another possible choice: it means a subordinate that a criminal uses for jobs requiring violence. Minion and underling and lackey all imply subordinate, but are used in many contexts (not just crime); minion and lackey have a pejorative connotation (you should be offended if somebody calls you one of those words), but “underling” is not offensive. “Yes man” has a different nuance; a yes man is almost always a subordinate, but the focus of the word is on a particular aspect of behavior (namely, always agreeing with the boss and flattering the boss). Stooge is old-fashioned. I’ve never heard of lingman (and could not find it as a word in Google).
13 de março de 2019
In American English, the words that fit best are minion, henchman, and lackey. Stooge is out of date; I’ve never heard lingman; and yes-man and underling are not specific enough.
13 de março de 2019
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