sale in zucca

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “salt in pumpkin”.

Noun

sale in zucca m (plural sali in zucca)

1. (idiomatic, humorous) minimum capacity to think or show intelligence; brains
   • 2019, George Orwell, translated by Nicola Gardini, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mondadori:

     Dal primo momento in cui sono apparse è stato chiaro a chiunque avesse un po' di sale in zucca che non c'era più alcuna ragione per cui la gente dovesse svolgere lavori pesanti o la disugualianza sociale dovesse perdurare.

     From the moment when the machine first made its appearance it was clear to all thinking people that the need for human drudgery, and therefore to a great extent for human inequality, had disappeared.

     (literally, “From the first moment they [the machines] appeared, it has been clear to whomever had even a little bit of brains that there was no longer any reason for people to have to do difficult work or for social inequality to persist.”)