“Boi solu no tirat carru” is a Sardinian expression which means “a single ox does not pull a cart”.

A saying that is used to indicate something that cannot be done alone. The origin is linked to the rural world. Oxen had a very important function in Sardinian agriculture: they were indispensable for plowing the fields when there was no tractor.

When we talk about oxen, a curiosity known to very few emerges and it takes the form of an ancient and fascinating tradition which sees the custom of giving oxen two names which, put together, form a sentence. A custom for those who owned a yoke of oxen or cows.

In the past, two oxen or two cows were yoked for plowing and, to train them, their farmers gave them names which when combined formed phrases such as: "alone alone, you get old" to indicate perhaps a spinster woman.

Two names that formed a complete sentence as if to indicate that they were one for the success of the function for which they were raised.

Other examples of names used for two oxen can be:

  • “Non assimilarti” and “Al fiore” in reference to a woman who thinks she is beautiful
  • ”When you are old, you bend over”
  • "Wait for me, don't be in a hurry"
  • ”What you have done, you pay for it”

A custom that does not remain anchored in the past and is still kept alive today, as can be deduced from the fact that every year for Sant'Efisio, in May, we discover the names of the oxen that will pull the cart of the Saint.

In 2013, for example, they were: "Mancai ci provasa" and "Non ci arrenescisi" which means: "Even if you try, you can't do it". In 2022 the oxen that pulled the chariot of the Saint were "Mancai n'di neranta" and "Non di fatzu contu" which means: "Although they say it, I don't take it into account".

Phrases that were not only intended to call the oxen, but which also became a tool to make fun of someone as an unreliable friend. In this case the oxen would be called respectively “S'amigu” and “Pagu Fidau”. Phrase that could be used, and said in a loud voice, when "that friend" maybe passed by.

But it could otherwise also be a phrase to indicate pleasant, auspicious events, or as an outlet to perhaps indicate a disappointment in love.

(Unioneonline)

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