The cat goes to the lard so often that it leaves its little paw there. Repeated risk-taking eventually results in being caught — the one who tempts fate too many times will suffer the consequences.
The Milanese kitchen in earlier centuries was a place of careful accounting. Lard — cured pork fat — was a precious cooking ingredient stored in earthenware crocks in cool larders, and cats that learned where it was kept became persistent thieves. The inevitable moment when the cat, grown bold through repeated success, reached too far and was caught in the crock was a domestic drama played out in countless Milanese households. The proverb generalizes this image to any situation where habitual transgression eventually meets its reckoning. It carried political meaning in Milan under foreign dominations, where petty corruption and small illegalities were tolerated until they escalated into situations that brought punishment. In the postwar period, it was invoked repeatedly in discussions of the Tangentopoli corruption scandals of the 1990s, which began in Milan and engulfed Italy's entire political class — the clearest modern enactment of the lard-and-cat dynamic.
The domestic image of the lard crock (zirlo) in the Milanese cucina povera is the authentic setting; the proverb gained national notoriety as commentary on the Tangentopoli corruption scandal that began in Milan in 1992 with Operation Mani Pulite.
Warning someone who takes small workplace liberties
Fai attenzione con quelle spese false. Tant va la gata al lard ch'la ghe lassa ol zampett.
Be careful with those false expenses. The cat goes to the lard so often that it leaves its little paw there.
Reflecting on the Tangentopoli corruption scandal
I politici rubavano da anni. Tant va la gata al lard — poi è arrivata Mani Pulite.
Politicians had been stealing for years. The cat goes to the lard so often — then Operation Clean Hands arrived.
A parent warning a teenager about cutting school
Prima o poi ti beccano. Tant va la gata al lard ch'la ghe lassa ol zampett.
Sooner or later they'll catch you. The cat goes to the lard so often that it leaves its little paw there.
A gambler who has won repeatedly but is about to lose
Ha vinto troppe volte. Tant va la gata al lard ch'la ghe lassa ol zampett — questa volta non andrà bene.
He's won too many times. The cat goes to the lard so often that it leaves its little paw there — this time it won't go well.