Let’s say your local bank suddenly shuts down… and someone comes by and smashes their desk.
That’d be weird, right?
Well, back in medieval Italy, it wasn’t that weird at all.
In those days, moneylenders worked on benches (called banca in Italian) in busy marketplaces. If a banker couldn’t pay their debts or went out of business, officials would literally break their bench to signal they were done—out of business, no more deals.
That broken bench was called banca rotta—which means “broken bank” or “broken bench.”
Eventually, banca rotta evolved into the word we use today: bankrupt.
So yeah, the next time you’re worried about your bank account, just remember—it could be worse. At least no one’s smashing your furniture. 😅
Fun Fact
The word bank also comes from banca, the same Italian word for bench. So both “bank” and “bankrupt” were born on the same wooden seat. Talk about a financial drama!
