CRIMINAL ARCHIVE

Was Pretty Boy Floyd really pretty? 10 criminals’ nicknames explained

Image: Ye Jinghan

Just like an artist chooses a stage name, criminals have long used aliases to instill fear and avoid capture. These pseudonyms often embody part of the essence of the individual behind the mask, or are related in some way or another to their past.

Let's delve into the stories behind these 10 infamous criminal aliases and the individuals who wielded them.

Image: Miami Police Department

Al Capone, dubbed "Scarface" for the distinctive scar on his face, was one of America's most notorious gangsters during the Prohibition era. He earned the scar during his time in the Five Points Gang of New York. Capone insulted a woman while working in a gang-operated dance hall, only to be viciously attacked by her brother, who slashed his face with a knife. In time, his hair-raising alias became synonymous with organized crime in Chicago, where he ran speakeasies and engaged in bootlegging.

Image: Artur Tumasjan

Frank Abagnale, an American con artist famous for his many frauds against individuals and small businesses during the ‘60s, earned the alias "The Skyway Man" for his audacious scheme of impersonating a Pan Am pilot and using his status to cash fraudulent checks without suspicion everywhere in the world. His life was later portrayed in the acclaimed Steven Spielberg film "Catch Me If You Can."

Image: Indiana State Penitentiary

John Dillinger was a notorious bank robber during the Great Depression, known for his brazen heists and daring escapes from the police. His dangerous exploits earned him the nickname "Jackrabbit" due to his graceful movements during heists, such as leaping over the counter - something he allegedly copied from the movies. The FBI also dubbed him "Public Enemy Number One," and his larger-than-life figure epitomized the glamorization of outlaws in American folklore.

Image: Nastya Dulhiier

The Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer active in California during the late 1960s and early 1970s, earned his alias for his taunting letters sent to newspapers and police, filled with cryptic ciphers and threats and signed under the "Zodiac" pseudonym. Though the police identified a series of potential suspects, the killer behind the letters was never positively identified, leaving behind an enduring mystery surrounding his identity and motives.

Image: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Blackbeard was the nickname of Edward Teach, a notorious English pirate who roamed the Caribbean during the early 18th century. He earned his alias for his fearsome appearance and ruthless tactics. The pirate was described as a tall man with a thick black beard, often braided into pigtails. During battles, he often stuck lighted slow matches under his hat to scare his enemies. However, despite his appearance and reputation, most historians believe that Blackbeard never murdered or harmed those he held captive.

Image: Rob Wicks

John Gotti, a powerful Mafia boss in New York City during the 80s, earned the alias "The Teflon Don" for his ability to evade conviction despite numerous charges against him. His apparent legal invincibility was achieved by intimidating witnesses and buying jury members with the help of the Gambino crime family. However, he was eventually convicted by the FBI after a lengthy investigation, receiving life in prison without parole.

Image: Konrad Summers, CC BY-SA 2.0

Griselda Blanco, a Colombian drug lord known for her ruthlessness, earned the alias "The Black Widow" for reportedly ordering the killing of each of her husbands. Also known as the "Godmother", she rose to prominence in the underworld of Miami during the 1970s and was known for her penchant for eliminating rivals who dared cross her path.

Image: Scott Graham

Meyer Lansky was a key figure in organized crime during the Prohibition era, as he earned his alias "The Mob's Accountant" for his financial prowess in managing illicit enterprises. Lansky’s alias reflected his strategic role in introducing money laundering and offshore banking in 1932 to the American criminal underworld. However, until his death in 1983, he was never found guilty of anything more than illegal gambling.

Image: George Bergman, GFDL 1.2

Ted Kaczynski, an American domestic terrorist and mathematician, gained notoriety as "The Unabomber" for his targeting of universities and airlines with homemade bombs. But before his real identity was known, the FBI internally used the name UNABOM (meaning University and Airline Bomber) to refer to his case. The media soon picked up the FBI identifier and creatively transformed it into the "Unabomber."

Image: Roman Kraft

Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a Depression-era bank robber and folk hero, earned his alias for his youthful appearance and charm. His exploits and story contributed to the romanticized image of the outlaw as a Robin Hood figure, as he was believed to burn mortgage documents during robberies, in theory freeing many people from life-long debts.

Learn the lingo

Read on if you ever wanted to know what the codes used in stores mean

Ever heard a mysterious "Code Yellow" or "Code 50" over a store loudspeaker and wondered if you should keep shopping or head for the exit? Retailers use coded announcements to communicate quickly without broadcasting every detail to customers. There’s no universal codebook, so the meanings can change from one chain to another, and some operational codes even vary by location. Here are 10 codes you might hear while shopping and what they can mean.

At Walmart, hearing "Code Black" isn't a commentary on the day's sales. Company emergency documentation identifies it as the warning for severe weather, alerting employees that potentially dangerous conditions require attention.

That might mean the sort of storm that makes staying inside safer than heading for the parking lot. Walmart's documented emergency vocabulary also assigns other colors to specific dangers, allowing employees to quickly recognize the nature of a situation quickly without a lengthy announcement.

Orange has a very different meaning in Walmart's emergency system. Company documentation identifies Code Orange as a chemical spill or hazardous materials incident, a situation in which employees may need to secure an area and follow special safety procedures.

That's particularly relevant in a giant retailer selling everything from household cleaners to automotive products. So if you hear the mysterious phrase while debating which detergent to buy, it isn't necessarily time to panic, but employees nearby may suddenly have something more pressing to handle.

At Target, Code Yellow is associated with a missing child. Employee accounts describe it as an announcement that quickly changes everyone's priorities: staff receive information about the child, begin looking around the store, and pay particular attention to exits.

It's a reminder that these seemingly cryptic announcements can have a practical purpose. Instead of publicly announcing sensitive details over the loudspeaker, a short code immediately tells trained employees what kind of response is needed while avoiding unnecessary confusion among shoppers.

This one is considerably easier to guess. Target employees have consistently described Code Red as the store's fire alert. Once it's announced, employees know they're dealing with something very different from an ordinary customer-service request.

Red has a similar association elsewhere, but don't assume retail colors form a universal language. Different companies develop their own procedures and terminology. At Target, Red, Yellow and Green have traditionally distinguished three very different situations: fire, a missing child and a medical incident.

If Target employees suddenly start talking about a Code Green, somebody may need medical help. Long-running employee accounts identify Green with an injury or medical emergency involving a customer or team member.

Employees have recalled Code Greens being called for everything from falls to customers becoming seriously ill. That's also why the deliberately vague wording makes sense: announcing someone's private medical problem to an entire store would hardly help. Two words can instead alert the people who need to respond.

Thankfully, not every mysterious store code signals an emergency. At Lowe's, Code 50 is widely described by employees as a request for loading assistance, usually because a customer has bought something too large or heavy for one person to handle comfortably.

Considering what Lowe's sells, opportunities aren't exactly scarce. Lumber, appliances, bags of concrete, and other bulky purchases eventually have to make the journey from store to vehicle. Code 50 is essentially a discreet way of saying, "We need some extra muscle over here."

Here's another code that's far less alarming than it sounds. Lowe's employees have described Code 75 as a call to collect shopping carts from the parking lot. Available associates may suddenly find themselves heading outside to round up the wandering fleet.

Operational codes can vary between individual locations, so Code 75 isn't necessarily carved in stone at every Lowe's. Still, the mundane meaning makes it particularly fun. That ominous-sounding number coming over the PA may simply mean the cart corral is overflowing.

A Code 22 at IKEA might sound mysterious but, in fact, is used when checkout lines become overwhelmed.

Register-trained workers elsewhere in the store can then be summoned to help handle the rush. Employees have said the call is especially familiar during busy periods such as weekends. In other words, Code 22 is retail shorthand for something shoppers already know perfectly well: that line is getting much too long.

At Home Depot, employee accounts describe Code Orange as an "all hands" request when a department or area needs additional help. Rather than signaling a disaster, it can mean employees are being summoned because customers or work are piling up faster than the available staff can cope.

That's a perfect demonstration of why you shouldn't try decoding store announcements by color alone. Walmart uses Code Orange for a hazardous-material situation, while Home Depot workers have used the same color for additional assistance. Same words, considerably different levels of urgency.

Code 21 may sound like something out of a police drama, but at Walgreens, its reported purpose is much more ordinary. Employees describe it as a call for an eligible coworker when a cashier can't complete an age-restricted transaction because of age requirements.

The exact rules can depend on local law and company procedures, but the basic idea is quite mundane: the person operating the register needs another employee to finish a particular sale. So the next mysterious announcement you hear while shopping might not involve an emergency at all: it could simply be retail's secret language keeping the store moving.