Common Italian expression
| Pronunciation | |
| Literal translation | And here the donkey falls |
| English translation | And that’s where the problem lies; and that’s where you’re wrong |
| Meaning | A problem that many people have trouble solving, or a trap that people often fall into |
Examples
| I file vanno inviati in PDF. E qui casca l’asino, perché molti li inviano come immagini. | Files should be sent as PDFs. And this is where the problem lies because many people send them as images. |
| Qui casca l’asino! Molti sbagliano a pulire le scarpe di camoscio con saponi troppo aggressivi. | This is where the problem lies! Many people make the mistake of cleaning their suede shoes with soaps that are too harsh. |
Where does this idiom come from?
Donkeys can be very stubborn creatures. In ancient times, where merchants and farmers had to cross bridges (attraversare ponti) to cross a river, forcing a frightened donkey to go across the bridge was not an easy task.
The animal would try to escape, and in doing so would run the risk of falling off the bridge and into the water below. That’s why we say, “here falls the donkey” to indicate a difficult situation where it’s better to be careful.
This expression is also found as qui casca l’asino, without the conjunction e, and.
Related lessons
- cascare (to fall)
- asino (Donkey)
- qui (here)
- definite articles
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