In the vast Italian linguistic panorama, the way of saying is iconic “have ham on the eyes“. Apparently bizarre, this expression contains a concentrate of History, popular culture, and an accentuated gastronomic vein. When it is said that someone “has ham on the eyes”, it is meant that that person is unable to see what is clear and evident to others, often by obstinacy: you do not want to accept a truth, however thorough it isperceiving a distorted reality. The meaning is similar to that of the parallel variant “Having the slices of salami on the eyes”. If we think about it, this image is effective precisely because it is surreal: who would ever cover the eyes with ham? But in the logic of the popular sayings, as always, the metaphor becomes clear: something opaque and dense obstructs the vision, both physical and intellectual.
In spite of the humorous or reproach tone to point out inattention, the expression has a surprisingly noble genealogy. It seems that one of the oldest documented examples of the use of this metaphor is found in the translation of“Poetic art” of Horacemade by a young man Giacomo Leopardi.
Even before the colloquial diffusion we know today, the sentence appears in Tommaseo-Bellinihistoric dictionary of the Italian language, which attributes theOrigin to Tuscany where the proverb recited “red eyes like ham lined“, With reference to a particular eye inflammation that made the sight difficult. Probably the less educated classes confused the description of the disease with the salami, thus making the proverbial expression born.
It is curious that this metaphor you do not find equivalent precise in other languages: in English it is said “To have blinders on” (to have blinders) or “To Bury One’s Head in the Sand” (putting your head in the sand), but none of these images includes food; Which confirms how peculiar Italian is in the construction of a linguistic imagination as expressive as it is culinary.
