It’s Never Darker Than at Midnight

Here is another selection from my growing collection of Italian regional sayings. I hope you enjoy them:

Three Sayings from Sicily:
 
This is exactly what you want to hear when you hit rock bottom:
‘Chiù scuru di mezzanotti 'un pò fari’.
('It’s never darker than at midnight.')
Meaning that things can only get better from now on.
 
The ambiguity of this next saying makes it even more interesting:
‘Cu mancia fa muddichi.’
('Those who eat, make crumbs.')
Meaning:

1. Anybody who does something makes a mistake however small.
2. Everyone leaves a trail of what they do however small.

 
A splendidly vivid warning:
‘Prima di parlari mastica li parole.’
('Chew on your words before speaking them.')
Think before you speak.


Three Sayings from Liguria
 
Simple and memorable; one of my favourites:
‘O meize de çiòule o ven pe tûtti.’
(‘Everyone goes through the month of onions.’)
Everyone cries sooner or later.
 
This saying probably explains why there is an abundance of both:
‘I gondoin e i funzi náscian sensa semenali.’
(‘Fools and mushrooms grow without been sown.’)
 
Some sayings have a ring of truth to them that sets them apart from the others, and this is one:
‘I sbagli di mëghi l'asconde a tæra, quelli di ricchi i dinæ.’
(‘The mistakes of doctors are concealed by the ground, the mistakes of the rich are concealed by money.’)


Although, most local sayings are not particularly poetic, there is a certain elegance to their brevity - their form follows their function. And that's always the secret to good design.


Alberico Collina