The bakers guild has handed in a petition to ban the popular saying pan con pan, comida de tontos (bread with bread is the food of fools).
More than 4,300 people have signed a petition asking the Spanish Royal Academy of Language to “remove the negative connotations of this saying which have no basis in fact”.
Along with the petition, the bakers gave the lexicographers a loaf of bread and a letter. We don’t know what the letter said, and I doubt one loaf of bread goes far between the whole staff of the RAE – but on the other hand, they probably aren’t much used to bribes and may be happy with the barra.
Jorge Sanchez, one of Spain’s master bakers and promoters of the petition, admitted that it was a PR stunt that was designed to fight back against the drop in sales of freshly baked bread from independent bakers.
The RAE, meanwhile, said that such sayings “emerge from popular culture and are not controlled by the RAE”. (But we’ll keep the barra, thanks).
