Haiu ragiùni e m’a manciu squàrata | Sicilian Sayings
Imagine winning an argument… but the prize is a sad, sauce-less bowl of pasta. That’s the vibe of this delightfully bitter Sicilian saying.
“Haiu ragiùni e m’a manciu squàrata”
“I’m right and I’ll eat it plain.”
“Haiu ragiùni e m’a manciu squàrata” is what someone says when they’ve been proven right, but it doesn’t actually change anything. No reward, no justice, no warm glow of satisfaction—just the cold comfort of being right. It’s a way to express that while your logic or morals may have triumphed, the outcome still tastes like defeat.
Why Pasta?
In Sicilian culture, pasta isn’t just food—it’s joy, it’s celebration, it’s life. So when you say you’re eating it squàrata(plain, without sauce), it’s like saying: “Sure, I was right. But what good did it do me?”
It’s the verbal equivalent of a shrug and a sigh. A reality check wrapped in humor. Because in the end, being right doesn’t always fill the plate—or the heart.
This saying hits especially hard in those moments where justice is acknowledged too late, or when being right still means losing out. It’s Sicilian wisdom at its most dry, most honest… and most relatable.
Oh, so true. If I had a dollar for every time I was right, but it changed nothing, I would have enough money to finally visit my grandfather Palermo’s home island…Sicily.