H. L. Mencken

“ Ferrazzano shines in the composition of macchiette coloniali for the cheap Italian theatres in New York. The macchietta coloniale is an Americanized variety of the Neapolitan macchietta, which Dr. Livingston describes as "a character-sketchetymologically, a character-`daub ́most often constructed on rigorous canons of `ingenuity ́: there must be a literal meaning, accompanied by a double sense, which in the nature of the tradition, inclines to be pornographic." ”

“ All of the macchiette coloniali are gaudy with the same sort of loan-words; one of the best of them, says Dr. Livingston, is Farfariello ́s "A lingua ́nglese," which is devoted almost wholly to humorous attempts to represent English words as ignorant Italians hear and use them.
As in the case of Yiddish, there is a movement among Italian intellectuals in America, and especially in New York, for the restoration of a purer Italian. These purists are careful to use the sotterraneo to take them nell bassa città. ”

“ Most of the Americanisms are obvious: barra for bar, visco for whisky, blacco enze for black-hand, laico for like, chistu for this, contri for country, fait for fight (it is also used for punch, as in chiaver nu fair, give a punch, and nato fait, another punch) , loffari for loafers, ghiroppe for get up, bomma for bum, pulizio for police, nun gudde for no good, orré for hurray, giorge for judge, wazzo maro for what’s the matter, laste for last, naite for night, toccho for talk, tenne for ten, dollari for dollars. ”