De porc i de senyor

[muckefuck]

Here's an odd saying I came across while plying the web last night:

Sant Antoni es va enamorar d'un porc, Sant Joan d'un be, i jo de vostè.

(Roughly: "Saint Antony fell in love with a pig, Saint John with a sheep, and I with you.")

There are a number things which struck me about this. The first one is the use of the formal you, vostè (the Catalan equivalent of Usted). During a discussion a while ago on linguaphiles of the difficulties of finding equivalents for "I love you", we talked about how odd some of the versions in European languages sound with formal second-person pronouns. As I pointed out, I don't think I've ever in my life heard anyone say "Ich liebe Sie". However, this formulation was probably as much if not more common than the familiar equivalent a few generations ago.

The second is, of course, Why a pig? The best justification I can come up with is the iconography. For some reason, Saint Anthony is often pictured with a pig. (One site I came across suggests that this is because pork fat was once commonly used to treat skin ailments, which he was invoked against.) Supporting this, there is the variation Sant Antoni es va enamorar d'un porc, Sant Roc d'un gos, i jo de vós, which substitutes Saint Roch and a dog for Saint John and his sheep (as well as another, older formal pronoun--vós--for vostè). (I take it I don't have to remind anyone of the legend according to which Saint Roch was saved from death by a dog who brought him bread and licked his wounds.) But I still can't explain Saint John and the sheep. I'm trying to remember if he's ever pictured with the Lamb of God, and I'm not recalling anything.

And the third thing--why would you say this to anyone? More than anything it reminds me of the opening lyrics of the New Order song "Every Little Counts": "Every little counts / When I am with you / I think you are a pig / You should be in a zoo."

Comments

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I love you vip
I love you vop
I love you better
Than a pig loves slop.

vostè

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

It's rarely used here in Catalunya. I assume they use it in the saying because it rhymes with "be", just like "gos" and "vós". Chalk it up to "poetic license."

Chuck