Götüme kaş göz çizsem ondan güzel olur

Lit: If I just drew eyes and eyebrows on my ass, it would be more beautiful than you

Meaning: This is a powerful way to illustrate the very ugliness of the person who is claiming – or at least insinuating – that he or she is the most beautiful person. The proverb can also be adjusted to use in the third-person form.

Anasına bak, kızını al.

Lit: 'Look at the mother, take (marry) the daughter'

This proverb expresses the view that a young girl (or a bride) will eventually look and behave like her mother.

Yeni gelinin sik tuttuğu gibi tutmak

Lit: To hold something like a new bride grabs a dick

Meaning: When somebody loosly grabs something in a very unfamiliar manner, this proverb can bu used to make clear that he (or she?) should grab it more firmly. It should be noted that the proverb assumes that a new bride cannot grab a dick in proper manner.

Kasap sevdiği koyunu yerden yere vururmuş!

Lit: The butcher hits his favorite sheep to the floor.


Meaning: Imagine that you are bullying someone, apparently for no particular reason. Nevertheless, do not be naive, there is always a reason! It is very plausible that you act in this way because you like her very much. (However, this saying should not be elaborated to legitimize psychical violence against your wife; a proper saying for that situation will be published soon).

Ben diyorum çanakkale boğazı, sen diyorsun yandı götümün ağzı

Lit: I am talking about the Dardanelles, you are talking about your arse being on fire.

Meaning: The Dardanelles, formerly known as the Hellespont (Greek: Ελλήσποντος, Hellespontos), is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Hence, this proverb puts forward that the topic on which person A is talking about (i.c. Dardanelles) has no connection at all to what person B is proclaiming(i.c. an arse on fire). Alternatively, you can use this sentence when somebody is telling a boring story that has nothing to do with anything. It will confuse your partner, silence him/her, most likely because he or she does not know where the Dardanelles are are situated.

Thanks are due to B.K. for this proverb.

Armut piş ağzıma düş

Lit: Pear grow up, drop in my mouth!

Meaning: Some people are very lazy. They expect that everything works out for them. Thus, a lazy one under a pear tree just waits and ask a pear to fall in his/her mouth . Perhaps Newton did the same thing, when he saw the apple fall. So, lazy people are commonly very smart as well, but that is not the primary meaning of this powerful Turkish saying.

*Thx to G.Y for this proverb.

Göte giren şemsiye açılmaz

Lit: An umbrella up one's arse can not be opened

Meaning: This one is another way to say: Sikilmiş götün davası olmaz . However, don't be confused, Turkish proverbs are not always about arses and poo. There are proverbs on camels, hair and thee as well.

Şeyh uçmaz, müridi uçurur

Literal: The sheik cannot fly, but his followers lets him fly.

Meaning: Followers tend to attribute imaginary special characteristics to a leader. The leader himself, however, will stay modest. (e.g. Obama)

Kuru bok göte yapışmaz

Lit: Dry poo does not stick to the anus.

Meaning: While the verity of this proverb cannot be questioned - it is simply true - one should really understand what 'dry poo' here stand for. It means something/somebody who is ugly/bad/uninteresting. But the good thing with those persons/objects is that they cannot hurt you. They are ugly for themselves. In sum, this sentence means: do not be afraid of dry pooish persons/objects.

İmam osurursa, cemaat sıçar.

Literal: If the imam farts, the whole community will shit.

Meaning: The leader serves as an example to his followers. They also carry a great responsibility to act in a proper way because their actions might have large consequences. Hence, in this proverb farting should be understoid in a dialectical relationship to defecating.

Benim adım Hıdır, elimden gelen budur.

Lit: my name is Hidir, this is what I can do.

Meaning: This is all what I can do about this situation. Nobody is perfect.

Denizden babam bile çıksa yerim

lit: If my father were from the sea, I'd even eat him

meaning: expresses a great affection for seafood. Mostly used by Turkish people who live by the sea to explain to their landlocked fellow countrymen that you can indeed eat mussels and prawns.

Nerede çokluk, orada bokluk

lit: where there is a crowd, there is shit(ines)

meaning: sometimes too many people together will spoil the fun. i.e. sometimes it better to be less people.

Öyle göte böyle yarrak

lit: a dick like this for an ass like that

meaning: if somebody tells you a blatant lie or exaggeration you reply with a lie of your own. when the liar then comments on the impossibility of your statement you say: a dick like this for an asshole like that". Instantly the first liar understand that you were not fooled!

Although uncertain a likely origin of the story lies in a joke about two passengers on a ship where one of them boasts to his mate that he would be able to "shit out an island" on which the passengers could safely remain, were the ship to sink. His friend replies by saying they could make use of his penis to climb over to this said island. The island-shitting man says: "what a terrible liar you are! nobody could have a member that size!" to which our hero replies: "well for an asshole like yours, you'll need a dick like this!"

Kılda keramet olsaydı götte çıkmazdı

Lit: if there was some miracle about hair, it would not grow on arses

Meaning: Off course this means that hair is not important. This is espacially used by bald guys when somebody gives an annoying remark about it. You can also use this saying/philosophy when somebody gives a comment about your untrimmed beard. Therfore, it is a perfect way to let evrybody know that you are in peace with your (non-existing) hair growth.

Her şakanın altında bir gerçek yatar

lit: beneath every joke there lies a spark of truth.

meaning: Be carefull with your jokes! And if someone made a 'joke' about you, you can use this sentence to make him/her feel bad :-)

Bahtsız bedeviyi çölde kutup ayısı sikermiş

lit: the unlucky bedouin gets fucked in a dessert by a polar bear

meaning: it does not matter where a unlucky person go, misfortune will find hem/her.

Bekara karı boşamak kolay

lit: it's easy for a bachelor to get divorced

meaning: outsiders will not see the real complications in matters. The saying is usually used in situations where somebody gives a simple but impractical solution to a problem.

The most likely origin of the idiom is a marital dispute that must have been something like this:
- [married man:] my wife is really giving me a hard time
- [bachelor friends:] you should just divorce her then!

An English version could read: "easier said than done"

Bilmemek ayıp degil, sormamak ayıp

Lit: It is not a shame not to know, it is a shame not to ask.

Meaning: not asking is a sin, open up yourself to whatever comes your way. You can always use this sentence when you posed a stupid question...

Aç ayı oynamaz

lit: a hungry bear will not dance

meaning: a hungry or unpaid worker will not do his or her work (properly). usually said by a disgruntled employee to their boss when the employee thinks that he is not being paid (enough) . it refers to the (abolished) Anatolian tradition of dancing bears, which much like snake-charming, involved real bears.

Adam olacak çocuk bokundan belli olur

lit: you can tell by a child's shit whether it will become a decent or great person

meaning: a child's attitude or behaviour will reveal much about their future personality. the "shit" here is arguably indicative of a natural trait, a talent or even mischief. one could also read it as the effortless and unadulterated product of the child's activities.

Hırsla kalkan zararla oturur

lit: who gets up in fury, sits down with loss

meaning: a person with a temper will lose - or - inability to control oneself is a disadvantage. the saying tries to sketch a situation in which a discussion heats up and one party storms off in fury. that party, once cooled down, will usually realize that it would have been in their advantage to continue the discussion in a reasonable way.

Sikilmiş götün davası olmaz

Litteraly: One does not argue over a fucked arse

Meaning: Okey, this one is tricky. Lets say you borrowed you Turkish friends favorite cd. Even before you play it for one time, there were scratches on it. After a week, when you give this cd back, it doesn't work anymore... and your Turkish friend is furious. Just tell him 'sikilmiş götün davası olmaz' and you will be fine. (Alternatively, you can ask him why he even never gives back a cd he 'borrowed', but this second strategy can have harmful effects four your friendly relationship.)

Kar ne kadar yağsa da yine yaza kalmaz

lit: no matter how much snow may fall it will be gone by summertime

meaning: adversities, no matter how great in number, will disappear. alternatively it can be used to remind one that, no matter how grand they may seem, all things are fleet

Tencere dibin kara seninki benden kara

Literally translation: Pan your bottom is black - yours is blacker than mine!

Meaning: instead of blaming me, you better check your own bizzniss, dude.

Alternative: the pot calls the kettle black.

Atın ölümü arpadan olsun

Literally translation: Let the horse die due to barley

Meaning: so you are in trouble due to something you like, for example, you smoke like a Turk. No problem, its better to die from something you did really enjoy. Do not use this sentence when you have masturbated like seven times a day.

Battı balık, yan gider

Literally translation: the fish sank, goes crooked.

Meaning: Let it be, the sh*t is already happened, there is no turning back now, so just enjoy it from now.