5 Turkish Idioms
Hello everyone!
In this blogpost I will share with you 5 useful Turkish idioms that will help you express yourself better in Turkish.
Using idioms in your daily conversations or writings will richen your language, and it will help you sound like a native speaker. Beginners can ignore idioms at first, but intermediate learners should embrace them and try to use them here and there.
Don’t forget to take notes and let’s get start it!
1-Gözden düşmek / to fall into disfavor
to fall from eye
You can use this idiom when someone does something that you do not appreciate.
Example: Let’s say your kid started smoking and you just found out about it. You can say:
–İnanamıyorum. Sigara mı içiyorsun? Şu anda gözümden düştün.
I can’t believe. Do you smoke? You’ve lost respect in my eyes. (You fell from my eye now)
Here is a song for you with this idiom
2- Hapı yutmak / to be in trouble
to swallow the pill
We use this expression when we face a terrible situation.
Example:You are a member of a gang and you are doing something illegal. Then you see the police coming and say:
-Eyvah! Hapı yuttuk!
Oh no! We are in trouble! (We swallowed the pill)
3- Ağzı açık kalmak / your jaw drops
to keep your mouth open
When you are surprised or shocked you can use this expression. We use it in positive or negative situations.
Example: Your best friend starts singing in front of you and she is pretty good at it.
You could say:
-Harikasın valla ağzım açık kaldı.
You are amazing, I swear I am floored. (My mouth stayed open)
-Seni o adamla görünce ağzım açık kaldı. Bunu nasıl yaparsın?
When I saw you with that guy I was shocked. How could you do that?
4-Başının etini yemek / to nag at someone
to eat someone’s head
This idiom is used when you talk to someone until you make him/her go crazy. If you are disturbing them non-stop with your words, complaining, nagging etc. they can use this idiom towards you.
Example: Let’s say you are a wife and you want your husband to buy you a car. So you talk to him about it non-stop, you complain how hard for you to use busses, you cry, beg and disturb him all the time. In this situation he could say:
-Başımın etini yeme! Tamam, alacağım.
Stop nagging me! (Don’t eat the meat of my head!) Okay, I’ll buy it.
I must add that this idiom is mostly used by men towards women -_-
We also have an another zombie idiom that I want to share with you;
“aklını peynir ekmekle yemek” / to lose one’s senses
to eat one’s brain with cheese and bread
We use this idiom when someone does or says something crazy.
Example:
When someone tells you ;
-Sokaklarda yaşamak istiyorum!
I want to live on the streets!
You could say :
-Sen aklını peynir ekmekle mi yedin?
Are you crazy? (Did you eat your brain with cheese and bread?)
5- İçini dökmek / to bare one’s heart
to empty one’s soul
We use this expression when we tell someone about our personal issues.
Example: Let’s say your friend has a lot of drama in his life and one night he comes and talks to you about his problems. He tells you everything, like how his mother died, how his girlfriend left her and he also cries. He opens up to you. This is called “içini dökmek.”
-Arkadaşım dün gece bana geldi ve içini döktü. Bana her şeyi anlattı.
My friend visited me yesterday night and opened his heart out to me.(He emptied his heart) He told me everything.
Or when you see someone sad and you want to comfort him and talk to him you can say:
-Anlat, içini dök, rahatlarsın.
Tell me, let it out, you will relax.
That’s it for today! I hope you liked this short lesson and I hope it is useful for you. If you have any requests or feedbacks you can leave me a comment.
If you are an intermediate learner you can check my podcast to improve your Turkish listening skills.
It is for free: INTERMEDIATE TURKISH PODCAST