Coatto
Coatto is an Italian slang word for describing the stereotyped young urban subproletar, usually with an attitude and rude and violent manners. Nevertheless, the word found its way to many prestigious Italian dictionaries such as Zanichelli's and De Mauro's ones, which provide a very similar definition.
The literal meaning of the word is, however, Someone who is coerced, under coercion, from the Latin coactum (noun) and coagere (verb) and came from the criminal jargon about 'Domicilio Coatto' (= Forced Domicile, as in House Arrests).
The word is mostly used in the area of Rome, but popular culture in Italy (especially Italian hip hop and Er Piotta's songs) helped spread the image and stereotype of the Coatto throughout Italy, although regional variations such as Truzzo (Naples) or Tamarro exist.
The figure of the Coatto can be considered a rough Italian equivalent of the British Chav, Yobbo, Ned and other similar urban subculture figures in other parts of the world, such as the German Mantafahrer or the more US-centric pejorative term White trash.
The term is used mainly when referring to young, working-class males from downgraded suburbs of big italian cities, especially Rome. The term Coatto originates roughly around the 1960s in the suburbs and popular housing projects of Rome. Initially it was connected with convicted criminals on parole or having pending trials, who had to reply "Nun posso, sò coatto" (Romanesco for "I cannot, I'm coerced") to eventual proposals of participating in illegal activities, as doing so was inhibited by their parole terms or pending trials.
Common characteristics of the stereotypical Coatto include, but are not limited to:
- Having a vast repertory of surreally "badass" threatening or/and provocative phrases, comparable to the African-American Yo mama jokes.
- Often rude and/or violent manners.
- Speaking in a nearly uncomprehensible mix of dialect and slang.
- Owning a tastelessly modified car.
- Obstensibly showing off a macho and virile image of oneself.
- Showing off in expensive clothes, or, on the opposite, in a "macho" dressing style.
- Kitsch taste in choice of clothing.
Categories
Pejorative terms for people | Social groups | Slang | Subcultures | Stereotypes