Meaning of Boss
The term capo comes from an Italian word that can be translated as “head”. An Italian term that has its origin in Latin. And it comes from the word “caput” which can be translated as “head”.
According to DigoPaul, the concept is often used with reference to the leader of a mafia organization or a criminal gang.
For example: “The local police managed to capture the drug lord last night”, “The writer was threatened after publishing a book where he denounced the Sicilian mafia boss”, “Several members of the gang have already fallen: now we are going for the boss”.
Speaking of bosses, we must highlight a fundamental figure in this sense. We are referring to Alphonse Gabriel Capone (1899 – 1947), better known as Al Capone. He was a famous American gangster, he was the most important mob boss during the 1920’s and 30’s and for a long time he was one of the most wanted criminals by the FBI.
Specifically, agent Eliot Ness and his group, known as “The Untouchables”, were at all times behind this character and finally managed to arrest him so that, immediately afterwards, he was sent to jail for tax evasion. Specifically, he spent most of his sentence in the famous Alcatraz prison.
Precisely about the world of the bosses there are numerous films, already classics of the cinema that shape the saga of “The Godfather”. The first part, the one that gives title to the series, was released in 1972 under the direction of Francis Ford Coppola.
Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall or James Caan are the actors who lead the cast of this feature film that revolves around a family of gangsters, the Corleones. The boss of it is none other than Don Vito Corleone, who is the main command of Cosa Nostra in New York.
In several countries, the idea of a boss is also applied to appoint the head or guide of any group or entity: “If you want to obtain some benefit, I suggest you speak with the company’s human resources boss”, “Pereyra is the boss of this team for several years ”, “ I don’t pretend to be the boss of the association, I just want you to pay attention to my projects ”.
On the other hand, a person who has extensive knowledge of a certain topic, who has a lot of prestige or who accumulates numerous achievements can be named as a capo: “Tomorrow a capo in sociology will come to the university to give a lecture”, “LeBron James the boss of the NBA today”, “My uncle is a kingpin: he has won five literary awards for his stories and novels. “
If the word is accented in the letter O (hood), it refers to the structure that covers the engine of a car. In this case, the notion derives from the French bonnet: “Open the hood so I can see where the fault may be”, “Yesterday a branch fell on my car and dented the hood”, “I’m going to open the hood to check the oil level ”.