Main piece:
- Porco Dio!
- Pork God!
- God is a pig!
Background information about the piece by the informant: Lorenzo is from the Tuscan region of Italy and claims this is very commonly included in folk speech from the central region of Italy. It comes from the idea of offending religious Catholics by calling God a pig, but it has expanded to a point where it can be an offense for everyone.
Context of the piece: The phrase is said in reference to something bad happening or as a curse, as it refers to God as a pig. If someone is talking about something bad that happened to them, they will follow it with “porco Dio”. It is also used as a curse insult against people that one wants to offend.
Thoughts on the piece: I never expected for one of the most Christian countries in the world and the seat of Catholicism to have this phrase as part of their folk speech. It’s a reminder that the folk people always have an antidote for the institution, which in this case would be the Church and religion. It also shows how much of folk speech spreads and is applied to other situations, as the phrase has now become a general insult without necessarily having to offend only religious people. Now, people say it even to refer to something mildly upsetting, which may also have taken the impact out of the phrase to some extent.