As the story goes, John Steinbeck was told by one of his professors that he would become an author when pigs fly,[…]

The accurate phrase is “ad astra per ALAS porci,”[“to the stars on the wings of a pig.”] which means that Steinbeck in his snarky revenge was demonstrating far and wide that he was a bad student after all – and thanks to his famous but inaccurate imprint, countless people are running around with tattoos which actually say “to the stars through other pigs.”[“ad astra per alia porci”]

https://sluggoonthestreet.tumblr.com/post/188811241794/as-the-story-goes-john-steinbeck-was-told-by-one