Corruption is the cancer of society
I’m uploading this video for the enlightenment of the Malta Labour Party. Yes, it’s quite normal to say that corruption is the cancer of society, and this government is totally corrupt.
Listening to the Italian-speakers here should remind them that the Maltese word for cancer is kankru, from the Italian cancro, and not il-marda tal-kanser. That should show them how ridiculous their fastidiousness is about mentioning cancer. Kankru was flung about in conversation all the time. It was and still is quite usual to describe an annoying or tedious man as a cancer, as in ‘kemm hu kankru’.
The Maltese kankru does not come from the English ‘canker’. Despite the similarity in meaning, ‘canker’ more generally means a disease causing ulceration – but its secondary meaning, which is a malign and corrupting influence, is the same as that of cancer used here.
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