What it looks like
An accusation against the government for still not having privatized rainfall.
What it is
It rains. And, while we are at it, the government are thieves.
There is no real cause-and-effect relationship. That is precisely the beauty of it.
Piove, governo ladro is the ground zero of Italian complaining: it requires no evidence, alternative programme or particular expertise in meteorology. You just have to look at the sky.
It also has one considerable advantage: it never gets old.
Governments fall.
Majorities change.
Republics pass.
Sooner or later, it rains.
How it is used
Only when it rains.
Preferably said at a window, under an arcade or while walking soaking wet into a bar, ideally when nobody has asked for a political opinion.
There are no established equivalents for sunshine, fog or hail.
Italians have apparently decided that rain falls within the executive’s remit.
The key to reading it
There is, however, a subtle difference between meteorology and politics.
When it rains, at least, it really is water.
For everything else, the old principle applies:
if someone pisses on your head and tells you it is raining, check who is talking before you open your umbrella.
