Us Italians have truly taken this Italian proverb to heart, both during carnevale and anytime we throw a festa–chaos-filled days celebrated with cheese chases and food fights and a sport somehow more violent than rugby.

Though it may seem like chucking oranges at your neighbor’s head is ruthlessness for the sake of ruthlessness, there actually is some sort of reason for it all: often said reasons are hyperlocal traditions that date back to medieval times. Contrade (neighborhood) teams compete against eachother, fostering community relations by pitting one burly neighbor against another.