C Eaters

As a matter of fact the Livornesi eat their Cs. It is part of a phonetic phenomenon called Tuscan gorgia which, in very simplistic terms, substitutes some Cs in a word with nothing. A phrase that still awes outsiders is the anecdotic local rendition of “Coca-Cola con la cannuccia” (Coca-Cola with a straw), which would sound something like this: “òa-òlah òla annoochah”, killing five Cs in a row. Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872) was a patriot and philosopher, whose efforts helped bring about the modern Italian state. Here is a bust dedicated to him by “Livorno repubblicana” (Republican Livorno) in the square carrying his name. And, as you can see, somebody ate the C of “repubblicana”.

External links: Tuscan gorgia - Giuseppe Mazzini (Wikipedia)

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