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Funnily enough there is an Italian phrase: "avere sale in zucca" (to have salt in one's head (literally pumpkin here)), which means to be smart.
by carlob 9y ago
Funnily enough there is an Italian phrase: "avere sale in zucca" (to have salt in one's head (literally pumpkin here)), which means to be smart.
- mbroncano 9y agoTo insist on that, in Spanish there's the expression 'tener poca sal en la mollera' which literally translates as not having enough salt in one's head [1]. I love to find these tiny pieces of trivia :) [1] http://www.significadode.org/tener%20poca%20sal%20en%20la%20mollera.htm http://www.significadode.org/tener%20poca%20sal%20en%20la%20...
- nkrisc 9y agoI tried Googling but most results were in Italian (which I don't speak). How old of a phrase is that?
- mbroncano 9y agoAt least the Spanish expression is relatively old, it's quoted in Don Quijote. It's still in use today. https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/clasicos/quijote/edicion/parte1/cap07/cap07_02.htm https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/clasicos/quijote/edicion...
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- carlob 9y agoOne source I found says the expression is probably Latin in origin and that the pumpkin was literal back then. So dried pumpkin skins were used as purses, and salt as money, then the original sense might have been to be rich, rather than smart. But it was some random website, so take this with a grain of salt :)