O que parece
Un destino sorprendentemente rural.
The literal image is absurd on purpose: everything has somehow ended up “in the cow”.
O que significa
Quando uma situação que ainda podia terminar bem pega de repente o caminho errado. E acelera.
A negotiation, a dinner, a holiday or a romantic pursuit can all end this way.
Everything was going well. You only had to keep behaving like a normal person. Then you send a four-minute-and-twenty-seven-second voice message explaining how you really feel.
Tutto in vacca.
Uma questão sutil de responsabilidade
In Italian a situation can andare in vacca, as if it simply happened. Or someone can mandare tutto in vacca: then responsibility has a name.
When we tell our own story, things tend to “go” wrong. When others tell it, we are usually the ones who “sent” them there.
A chave de leitura
For something to go in vacca, there first has to be something worth saving.
If it was a disaster from the beginning, it did not go in vacca: it was already there.
One sentence too many. The wrong joke. An unsolicited confession. Afterwards there is only one thought: “There. That was when I should have kept quiet.”
