Does the term "Mafia" apply to...

...the Russian Mob, and/or any other non-Sicilian Mob organisations? The reason I ask is this cropped up on a TV show the other day--not a documentary, a British comedy drama--and someone stated the term "Russian Mafia." But I thought that Mafia was a term exclusive to the Italian kind. In the Russian case, you would use "mob", correct?

Thanks for the help,
mick

Good point, Mick. "Mafia" literally means Italian organized crime families with specific "rules," initiations, etc. But it's being used generically to describe any organized crime outfit--Russian, Vietnamese, etc. It's also used generically to describe non-crime organizations. As far back as 1959-60, John F. Kennedy referred to his group of political operatives and intimates as his "Irish Mafia." That name caught on. Even today, when old-time JFK retainers like Pierre Salinger or Ted Sorenson are mentioned in the press, they're often referred to as "members of JFK's Irish Mafia."

Yeah, it is. Sadly, the Italians arent as bad as the good ol' days. the Japenese Yakuza Mafia is the largest and said to be the most violent. They stick wood chips in your nails and castrate ther foes.

Mafia is an arabic word meaning sanctuary. It was used during like the fourteen hundreds or something while Sicily was under Arab rule. Criminals mainly Sicilian patriots were hidden from the authorities by groups of locals. The Arabs called it Mafia because they gave criminals safety.

"morte alla Francia Italia anelia!" (Italian for "death to the French is Italy's cry!")take the first letter of each word and what do u get? dats what i read

it makes jibberish. this is irrelevant

This is what the Mafia slogan was used for. That phrase was said during all those times that Sicily and Italy had conflict with the French that I always talk about. They just applied it to the Mafia. Very interesting quote.

The Don Ferro

Elvis' crew were called the Memphis Mafia.

I think the word mafia, by popular use, no longer denotes La Cosa Nostra.

Yea', "mafia" has definitly gone to mean any kind of organized crime.

Course, the Crips have a faction called the "Mafia Crips" Another case of street gangs looking up to the true original gangsters...


-Ethereal

Indeterminate X is absolutely correct, as that was the progenitor of the word. However the word obviously is a blanket term for most factions of organized crime.