Literal translation
he is chasing the whiting
Meaning
he's broke, chasing after money
Explanation
This expression describes a very poor person, reduced to chasing after food as modest as whiting, a cheap and little sought after fish among Mediterranean catches. The verb used means to hunt, to pursue, to drive forward insistently, an idea that here figuratively evokes the stubborn pursuit of minimal subsistence. Whiting, a fish of little value, becomes the very symbol of the scantiest fare, the one to which a person without resources is reduced. The image suggests someone forever running, with almost desperate energy, after the little he can get to eat, a life made of deprivation and constant scraping by. It is used to describe the plight of a ruined or very needy person, forced into a precarious existence where even the most basic needs become a daily struggle. The register is popular and sympathetic, fit for remarks about a neighbour's or an acquaintance's hardship.