îngrășa porcul în ajun

Romanian

Etymology

Literally, “to fatten the pig in the eve”. The origin of this expression is the Romanian tradition of slaughtering a pig on St. Ignatius' Day (20th December). The pig had to be fattened enough at the moment of the slaughter. The fattening often had to be done over the course of the entire year. If the pig's owner chose to postpone the fattening to a moment closer to St. Ignatius' Day, the meat of that pig would have been of a lower quality than that of the pigs whose fattening process began much earlier.

Verb

a îngrășa porcul în ajun (third-person singular present îngrașă porcul în ajun, past participle îngrășat porcul în ajun) 1st conj.

1. (idiomatic, colloquial) to hurriedly prepare for something (e.g. an exam) after putting off the preparation to the last day