råttan i pizzan

Swedish

FWOTD – 5 August 2020

Etymology

From råttan (“the rat”) +‎ i (“in”) +‎ pizzan (“the pizza”), from an urban legend about a pizzeria serving rat meat to unaware customers, and from a book by Bengt af Klintberg.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɔtan i ˈpɪtsan/

Noun

råttan i pizzan c

1. (figurative) An urban legend

   Synonyms: vandringssägen, skröna, klintbergare

   • 2014 July 31, “Nyheten om Zlatans jättebetalning falsk”, in Resumé:

     Nä, detta är verkligen en "råttan i pizzan", skriver Lars-Johan Jarnheimer i ett mejl till Metros Viralgranskaren.

     No, this is really an urban legend, writes Lars-Johan Jarnheimer in an email to Metro's Fact Checker.

   • 2019 January 23, David Johansson, “Café möter Calvin Kleins klockguru Carlo Giordanetti”, in Café:

     Nästan alla mina klockbärande vänner skryter med sin farfars Omega med någon slags råttan i pizzan, Pulp Fiction-liknande historia bakom.

     Almost all of my watch-wearing friends show off with their grandfather's Omega with some kind of urban legend-esque, Pulp Fiction-like backstory.