Papa Smurf? Wiseguys Have Creative Nicknames

Two Papa Smurfs: Which one is the gangster?

The NYTimes.com offers an interesting little piece on mob nicknames, using as its starting point one of the latest -- and most unique -- to hit the media with the predawn bust of the waste-disposal racketeers:

"One of them is believed by the authorities to be a mob associate who extorted owners of garbage-hauling companies in New York City suburbs. The other is believed to be at least 542 years old, very short and wise, with blue skin and a white beard.

"One was arrested on Wednesday. The other stays close to his village, far from humans and laws and garbage-collection companies.

"But they have the same name: Papa Smurf."