straighten out
v. phr.— «In the mid-1990s, when “Little Joe” D’Angelo was “straightened out” (Mob slang for inducted) by the Gambinos, he got a hamburger in a Queens diner, D’Angelo testified last week at the Gotti trial. He said the Mob bosses who inducted him, including “Junior” Gotti, didn’t bother to burn a picture of a saint in D’Angelo’s hands, as ritual required. Instead, someone wrote “saint” on a piece of paper and drew a cross.» —“The mafia is on shaky ground” by Richard Willing USA Today May 9, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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