Du lard ou du cochon

Le mot du jour : “Du lard ou du cochon”
“Du lard ou du cochon” is an expression from the 18th century, and once again, it has to do with food 🙂

“Le lard” in old French used to be the bacon (today it means the fat of the pork) and “le cochon” is the pig.

Basically, le lard and le cochon were the same thing, so when people said “je ne sais pas si c’est du lard ou du cochon” (I don’t know if it’s bacon or pork) it meant that they hesitated between two things, not knowing which one was which.

Today, the expression is used when you don’t know if something is true or not.

Example : “Il a appelé pour dire qu’il était malade mais je ne sais pas si c’est du lard ou du cochon” (He called in to say that he was sick, but I don’t know if it’s true or not)

So remember, if you find something suspicious, just ask : “C’est du lard ou du cochon ?” 😃

image de cochon (4)