My adventure as a student in Istanbul is coming to an end soon and one thing which makes me experience the ‘tube light’ effect – as they take a few seconds to light up – in any conversation is the famous use of idioms in conversations by my Turkish friends. What leaves me in awe after these ‘tube light’ moments is the patience, eagerness and effort that my friends put in explaining those idioms. It is of course not necessary that a conversation in Turkish include an idiom, but if I’m trying to explain a story with a message in it, my friends will often listen carefully till the end and then add, ‘You know we have an idiom to explain this in Turkish actually,’ and I’m like ‘Again?’ So, after three and a half years in Turkey, I do have a few idioms in my library which I use to spice up my conversations – be it with my professors at my university, my friends, or the random teyze during a bus trip to the East. So here are a few of my ‘most used idioms’:
1) “Her yiğidin bir yoğurt yiyişi vardır.”
Literal translation: Every hero has his own style of eating yogurt.
Meaning: Everyone does things in their own way.
I study in the Faculty of Architecture and this is one of the places where there is continuously a clash of ideas and design principles. Some people would advocate a functional approach in their designs (me) while others will dive into all sort of inspiration to derive something unique. So, whenever I feel like ending a discussion which is getting us nowhere, I end it with ‘Her yığıdın yoğurt yiyişi vardır’.
2) “Tilkinin dönüp dolaşıp geleceği yer kürkçü dükkanıdır.”
Literal translation: No matter where the fox goes, he shall end in the furrier’s shop.
Meaning: No matter where you go and wander, you will end up where you are familiar with.
This one happens to be my favorite. During my internship, my bosses (co-founders) would often ask me which province(s) I prefer the most in Turkey and usually I would answer one of their hometowns just not to piss them off. However, each summer, they would see me sharing pictures in Palu/Elazığ where I spend around one week with my friend and his family. This is how I was introduced to ‘Tilkinin dönüp dolaşacağı yer kürkçü dükkanıymış’.
3) “Aşkın gözü kördür.”
Literal translation: The eye of love is blind
Meaning: When one is in love, he plays the blind eye to many things.
This one is pretty common in many languages and it stands for ‘Love is blind’ or ‘L’amour rend aveugle’ in French. This one has a story too and it happens that I ‘always fall in love’ with girls who my best friends dislike and this is how they keep reminding me that ‘aşkın gözü kördür’.
4) Akıllı düşman, akılsız dosttan hayırlıdır.
Literal translation: A wise enemy is better than a mindless friend
Meaning: Probably, it tries to shower light on relationships, that is, not all friends are ‘worthy’ friends and not all enemies are ‘unworthy’ enemies.
5) “İyilik eden iyilik bulur.”
Literal translation: Do good and find goodness.
Meaning: A person who does good is rewarded with goodness when he/she needs it.
This one too is pretty much common in different languages and it goes as follows, ‘Those who do good will be bestowed with goodness’ and this is usually used in cases where one is doing something praiseworthy and those who see it show their appreciation and support by saying that he will somehow be rewarded for these actions.
6) “Komşunun tavuğu komşuya kaz görünür.”
Literal translation: The neighbor’s chicken is seen as a goose.
Meaning: Seeing what someone else has as better than our own.
In English, we often use the idiom, ‘The grass is greener on the other side’ and similarly, the analogy is made using the chicken here. So, we can picture it as a scene where two neighbors own two identical chickens, but one sees the other’s chicken as a goose (bigger and better). This is often used when someone is not satisfied with their own possessions in hopes of them focusing on themselves again.
7) “Ne ekersen onu biçersin.”
Literal translation: What you plant now, you harvest later.
Meaning: Your actions now will affect you later.
You reap what you sow is another idiom which is common in English and literally it means the same in Turkish. When to use it? If you advised someone of something and he did otherwise, you can just rub salt to wound by adding ‘Ne ekersen onu biçersin baba!’
8) “Gemisini kurtaran kaptan.”
Literal translation: It’s the captain who saves his ship.
Meaning: A person saves themselves from a situation by taking bold action themselves.
I heard this one in a quite unusual situation. We were all burning the midnight oil to submit our final semester project and were all engrossed in our works. In the early hours of the morning, a lecturer walked by and took a seat next to me. After a little talk about the project, he subtly said ‘gemisini kurtaran kaptandır’ which when translated means it’s the Captain who saves his ship and probably in this case, he meant that ‘You own the work and you are gonna do your job of finishing it properly’.
9) “Bedava sirke baldan tatlıdır.”
Literal translation: Free vinegar is sweeter than honey
Meaning: One always find value in something obtained for free.
When I heard this one, I loved it, as it reflected a reality in my life and we often use it in scenarios where one finds value in something obtained for free. Back in 2016, I used to stay in Esenler and every weekday, the IBB (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality) would distribute çorba at the entrance of the metro station and even if the quality was poor at times, we would all sip it as we walked down the terminal since its better than not having breakfast at all. İşte bedava sirke baldan tatlıdır.
10) “Ateş almaya gelmek.”
Literal meaning: To come and ask for fire
Meaning: Just dropping by for a moment for a favor.
There are idioms which have different interesting narratives and ‘Ateş almaya gelmek’ is one of them. I used to stay in a dormitory and the use of an electric kettle was forbidden. One of our Turkish counterparts had a ‘mini kettle’ which he managed to hide for almost a year and everyday at 21:00, we would have a knock on our door with a request for the kettle or hot water. In turn, my friend would often reply, ‘Yine mi ateş almaya geldin?’ which means ‘Are you again dropping by for a quick favor?’ (in this case taking hot water).
To end, I will add a few expressions that I picked from my friends and blogs while writing this piece and they were actually quite funny. Feel free to guess their meanings!
– Bal dök yala!
– Dilli düdük
– Zurnanın zırt dediği yer
– Armut piş ağzıma düş
– Maydanoz olma
