Sean S-D
Turkish Slang, Idioms, and Proverbs

As I interact with Turkish speakers I constantly notice they are using phrases, slang, and proverbs that my books don't cover. It's a great, expressive, colourful language! Often as I am listening I miss the meaning of what they say because I'm thinking of the phrase literally.

 

Could a few Turkish speakers out there list common slang terms or sayings you use to express yourself? I'm especially interested in idioms you would use frequently. I might put this together into a Memrise course for other learners so please give lots of answers if you have them!

 

May 13, 2015 2:40 PM
Comments · 14
10

it is really hard to write all of them but i gonna write (try at least) the most common ones with their actual meannings :

 

Ağzında bakla ıslanmamak : it uses for somebody who cant keep a secret . it is kinda bad personality and a little humiliating to say .

 

Bal dök yala : very clean (object , floor)

 

Can kulağı ile dinlemek : listening carefully 

 

Altına araba çekmek : buying a car

 

abayı yakmak : crushing somebody (falling in love)

 

abuk sabuk konuşmak : speaking rediculus- nonsense

 

acından ölmek - starving - being really hungry

 

ağırdan almak : taking things slow

 

ağzı var dili yok : it uses for someone who really quite

 

çenesi düşük : it uses for someone who really talkative - chatty (bad personality)

 

cana yakın : sympathetic

 

cümbür cemaat : all together

 

deliksiz uyumak : sleeping tight

 

eşek şakası : prank

 

Göz açıp kapayıncaya kadar : really fast

 

Saman altından su yürütmek : doing something without telling anybody

 

Zerre kadar : trace amount : zerre kadar umursamıyorum (i dont care even a little)

 

 

you can find many of them in this link

http://www.yasambu.com/forum/konu/gunluk-hayatta-en-cok-kullanilan-deyimler.43730/

 

and this webside has translation of many of them

http://tureng.com/

i m gonna write more when i remember.

 

i hope it helps

 

 

 

 

May 13, 2015
2

after creating this memrise course, can you please share the name of your creation :) I will be very thankful for this!
 

May 13, 2015
1

There are a few proverbs and slangs below, I hope these will be helpfull :)

 

garibine gitmek: find something strange

yüz göz olmak: be too familiar

gözüne girmek: win One's favor

boşboğaz: talkative/ garrulous

ayak uydurmak: keep up with

apar topar: hastily

ucuz atlatmak: escape (from a dangerous situation) with little or no harm

üçkağıtçı: cheater / trickster

tıklım tıklım : too crowded

pot kırmak: say something wrong

pes etmek: to give up

karman çorman: too complicated

jetonu geç düşmek: understand later

kaçın kurası: clever

gına gelmek: be tired of

eli sıkı: mean

eli uzun: thieve

ateş pahası: too expensive

 

 

July 21, 2015
1

Yusuf, that list is very helpful! That's a great start. Thanks.

 

Duygu, another example is "Tencere yuvarlanmış kapağını bulmuş," or even calling someone "delikanlı."

 

I haven't found much of this in Turkish textbooks, but learning these phrases and when to use them helps make the learner much more expressive!

 

To all the learners out there, if you have other examples you would like to contribute, post them to this discussion and I will compile them and post a link to the course when it's running. Kolay gelsin!

May 16, 2015
1

Thanks! Great initiative :)

May 14, 2015
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