"Tataresu impica babbu": a gesture of love transformed into an insulting nickname
At the origin of the idiom the choice of an executioner who decided not to hang his sonThe way of saying "tataresu impica babbu" has its roots in a story that dates back to the times of the Holy Inquisition, when the executioner, "Su Buginu" was also in Sassari. The literal translation from Sardinian into Italian is "Sassarese hangs father".
No one knew the identity of the executioner, but everyone knew that he lived in that perimeter which today is called Largo Quadrato Frasso. The executioner, one day, found himself faced with a harsh reality: they brought him by means of a cart, a condemned man to the gallows and in the act of hooding him he realized that it was his son, who had run away from home some time before. In desperation and with the spirit of a father who would do anything for his son, he decided to take advantage of the fact that no one knew his identity as an executor and decided to save him by making him promise to go back to an honest life. Thus they exchanged clothes and also roles. It was not the father who killed the son but the son who killed his father.
It is a way of saying that tells of the generosity and affection of a father towards his son, a father who decided to die in order for him to live. Over time, however, this meaning changed and this story became the story of the selfishness of a son who, in order to save himself, does not look anyone in the face, not even his father. That's why this saying.
(Unioneonline)