Mafiosi deliver threatening verdicts through allusive metaphor rather than direct statement

Evidence

Cryptic signs, allusions, and metaphors are the means by which mafiosi communicate, or sometimes fail to communicate (for good examples, see Falcone and Padovani 1991: 53). According to Vincenzo Marsala, Michele Greco, alluding to the verdict which ordered Gigino Pizzuto’s execution, remarked: “A man who signs IOU’s and defaults must settle them sooner or later” (VM: 7). Ciccio Intile, capo mandamento of the Vicari area, when asked by Don Mariano Marsala about the disappearance of Aurelio Ocelli, a member of the Vicari family, is said to have replied: “Once in Misilmeri a sheep vanished, and nobody has heard of it since.” As a result, says Marsala, “my father became convinced that the disappearance was due to the ‘family,’ for if that had not been the case, Intile would not have replied in that way but would have organized a search” (VM: 13-14). — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 316

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to Gambetta’s private-protection information model: cryptic speech is what makes private communication verifyable-inferable in a high-risk environment, and echoes Schelling’s tacit communication in threat bargaining.