30 Fabulous Turkish Idioms To Impress A Crowd

When you start learning Turkish, you’ll likely come across Turkish idioms at some point. That’s because every language has idioms. And in every language, they can be interesting, funny, or at times, outright bizarre. 

But first off, what’s an idiom? An idiom is a collection of words that create an entirely new meaning. Learning idioms can be confusing. But they're an essential to know because they’re used regularly in speech.

By learning Turkish idioms, you’ll introduce yourself to essential new Turkish vocabulary. But the best part about learning Turkish idioms is that it gives you greater insight into the culture and history of Turkish.

Not only that, you’re also likely to impress a lot of native Turkish speakers!

Read on to learn 30 fabulous idioms that you can use in Turkish. For each idiom, I’ll share a literal translation of the idiom in English, its meaning, and an example of how it’s used in a sentence. 

So without further ado, let’s look at some Turkish idioms! 

Turkish Idioms About The Body

#1 – Nazar Değmesin 

• Literal translation: “Don’t let the evil eye touch you”

Nazar değmesin needs a bit of an explanation. In Turkey and other cultures in its surrounding region, nazar refers to the evil eye. The evil eye is a widely-held belief that the admiring or envious gazes of others can directly result in misfortune or bad luck. 

In fact, many people in Turkey decorate their homes with an evil eye bead, while others wear jewellery with the evil eye to protect themselves against bad luck or misfortune. 

• Meaning: knock on wood/touch wood

The closest idiom in English to nazar değmesin is “knock on wood”. By saying it, you’re trying to protect someone after praising them so that misfortune doesn’t befall them. 

• Ne kadar güzel saçların var, nazar değmesin. (You’ve got such beautiful hair, knock on wood.)

#2 – Avucunu Yalamak

• Literal translation: To lick your palm
• Meaning: To be disappointed

One of the more unusual Turkish idioms, there’s definitely nothing as disappointing as having to lick your own palm!

• Sevdiğin botlara indirim gelmiş. Eğer erkenden gidip mağazadan almazsan tükenir ve sen de avucunu yalarsın. (There’s a discount on the boots you liked. If you don’t go and buy them from the store soon, they’ll be bought up and you’ll be disappointed.)

#3 – Alın Yazısı

• Literal translation: It’s written on your forehead
• Meaning: Destiny, fate

While there are other words for “destiny” or “fate” in Turkish like kader or kısmet, you’ll frequently hear alın yazısı as well.

• Seninle tanışmak alın yazısı olmalı. (Meeting you must be fate.)

#4 – Saçını Süpürge Etmek 

• Literal translation: To sweep one’s hair. 
• Meaning: To exert oneself/To bend over backwards/To put in a lot of effort

If someone is hard at work and going out of their way to put in an effort, then their hair might eventually look as if it’s been swept by a broom. You can use this idiom to describe when someone is bending over backwards to serve someone. 

• Annem ve babam yıllarca bize bakmak için saçlarını süpürge etmişlerdi. (My mum and dad bent over backwards to provide for us for many years.)

#5 – Kılı Kırk Yarmak 

• Literal translation: To split a hair into forty. 
• Meaning: To be meticulous/To be detail-oriented. 

Someone who splits a hair into forty strands is sure to be very detail-oriented! Use this idiom to describe someone who is very meticulous. 

• Patronum yanımdayken hiç rahat edemiyorum çünkü yaptığım her işi kılı kırk yarıyor. (I can never relax around my boss because he is meticulous about everything I do.)

#6 – İlk Göz Ağrım 

• Literal translation: The first pain of my eyes.
• Meaning: My first child. 

It’s no mystery that raising children can be challenging. Turkish has the perfect idiom that captures this sentiment to refer to a first-born child. 

• Sen benim ilk göz ağrımsın, seni çok seviyorum. (You’re my first-born child, I love you very much.) 

Traditional Turkish Idioms

#7 – Ateş Almaya Gelmek

• Literal translation: To come and ask for a fire/light.
• Meaning: To drop by briefly to ask a favour.

This idiom also needs a bit of explanation. In the past when there were no matches or lighters, people would go over to their neighbours’ homes with a shovel to ask for a bit of burning coal or wood to light up their own homes. 

To make sure that the fire doesn’t go out, they would have to rush back home after picking up the burning coal or wood. That’s why this idiom is for when people come over quickly without staying for a favour. 

• Nereye gidiyorsun? Sanki ateş almaya geldin. (Where are you going? It’s as if you’re only dropping by for something.)

#8 – Havadan Sudan Konuşmak

• Literal translation: To speak about the weather and water. 
• Meaning: To make small talk/To speak about unimportant topics. 

If you’re chatting about unimportant topics or having a simple conversation without getting into anything serious, then you can say that you’re talking about air and water. 

• Komşumla giriş kapısında karşılaştığımda havadan sudan konuştuk. (I made small talk with my neighbour when I ran into her at the building entrance.)

#9 – Zurnanın Zırt Dediği Yer 

• Literal translation: Where the shrill pipe sounds “zirt”.
• Meaning: The most critical point.

A zurna is a wind instrument commonly used in Turkey with a very shrill sound. People in Turkey often describe the zurna as making a “zirt” sound. Use this idiom to describe the most important or critical point of a work in progress. 

• İşimizde zurnanın zırt dediği yere geldik. (We’ve come to the most critical point of our work.) 

#10 – Pabucu Dama Atılmak 

• Literal translation: To have one’s shoes be thrown to the rooftop. 
• Meaning: To fall out of favour. 

Back in the Ottoman Empire, there was a committee that was responsible for doing quality control on products like shoes. If you bought a pair of shoes and were unhappy with its quality, then you could contact the committee. 

If the committee deemed that the shoes you bought were of lower quality, then you would be refunded, and the shoes would be thrown on the roof of the shoemaker for all of the public to see.

So if you saw a lot of shoes on the roof, that meant that the producer was falling out of favour with its customers. 

Even though shoes aren’t being thrown on roofs anymore by a committee, the idiom is still used to express that someone is no longer the favourite. 

• O lokantanın yemeklerinin kalitesi düştüğü için artık hiç kimse gitmiyor oraya, pabucu dama atıldı. (Because the quality of the food at that restaurant has dropped, nobody goes there anymore. It’s fallen out of favour.)

#11 – Sakla Samanı Gelir Zamanı

• Literal translation: Keep the hay, it’s time will come. 
• Meaning: If you keep something, you’ll eventually find a use for it. 

This rhyming idiom is definitely one to remember for those who have a hard time letting go of things in case they might be useful in the future. The closest idiom in English is “keep a thing seven years and you’ll always find a use for it.”

• O defteri mutlaka sakla; sonuçta sakla samanı gelir zamanı. (Make sure to keep that notebook; after all, if you keep it, you’ll eventually find a use for it.)

#12 – Dağdan Gelip Bağdakini Kovmak

• Literal translation: To come from the mountain and drive out the vineyard
• Meaning: To take undue credit for something 

A useful Turkish idiom for when someone tries to take undue credit for the work that you did!

• Emeğimize sahip çıkmalı ve onların dağdan gelip bağdakini kovmalarına müsaade etmemeliyiz. (We need to take ownership of our efforts and not let them take the credit.)

Turkish Idioms About Food

#13 – Kabak Tadı Vermek

• Literal translation: To give off the taste of zucchinis. 
• Meaning: To bore/To become boring. 

Do you think zucchinis taste bland? For many people in Turkey, it’s considered a boring taste, giving inspiration to this idiom to express that something is boring. 

• Senin bu şikayetlerin artık kabak tadı veriyor. (Your complaints are starting to get boring.)

#14 – Tuzu Kuru

• Literal translation: His/her salt is dry. 
• Meaning: Being well-off

Do you have a best friend that seems to always have the best of luck? If so, you could say that your best friend’s salt is dry!

• Senin tuzun kuru olduğu için bizim dertlerimizi anlamazsın. (You wouldn’t understand our problems because you’re well-off.) 

#15 – Bedava Sirke Baldan Tatlıdır

• Literal translation: Free vinegar is sweeter than honey. 
• Meaning: The best things in life are free. 

Can you imagine vinegar being sweet? If it's free, then perhaps! You can use this Turkish idiom to express that things that are free are better than the things that come with a price tag. 

• Bedava sirke baldan tatlıdır diye çocuklar yüksek bir dağa çıkıp elma toplamaya gitmiş. (The kids went picking apples at a high mountain saying that the best things in life are free.)

#16 – Fıstık Gibi

• Literal translation: Like a pistachio.
• Meaning: Beautiful, attractive

Pistachios are a favourite for many people in Turkey for its taste, giving inspiration to this idiom.

• Fıstık gibi araba aldım. (I bought a great car.)

#17 – Ağzında Bakla ıslanmamak

• Literal translation: To not get the fava beans in your mouth wet. 
• Meaning: To not be able to keep a secret. 

If you have a hard time remembering this idiom, you can remind yourself that English has a similar idiom, “spill the beans”, which uses beans to describe when someone can’t keep a secret. 

• Kız kardeşimle özel hiç bir şey paylaşamıyorum çünkü ağzında bakla ıslanmıyor. (I can’t share anything personal with my sister because she can’t keep a secret.)

Turkish Idioms About Animals

#18 – At Var, Meydan Yok 

• Literal translation: There’s a horse but no field. 
• Meaning: There’s everything needed for the work, but no work to be done. 

A useful idiom to describe a (hopefully) not-so-common issue at work!

• At var, meydan yok. Tüm kadro işe gelmiş ama pek bir iş yok. (There’s a horse but no field. All the employees came to work but there isn’t much work to do.)

#19 – Pireyi Deve Yapmak

• Literal translation: To turn a flea into a camel. 
• Meaning: To blow something out of proportion. 

You can use this idiom to describe if someone is over exaggerating a situation, or turning something small into a big deal. 

• Sen o kadar hasta değilsin, pireyi deve yapmana gerek yok. (You aren’t that sick, there’s no need to over exaggerate.)

#20 – Ağzıyla Kuş Tutmak

• Literal translation: To catch a bird with a mouth. 
• Meaning: Impossible

Can you imagine catching a bird with your mouth? Since it’s very difficult to catch a bird with your hands, let alone your mouth, this idiom is used to describe when something is impossible. 

• Ağzınla kuş tutsan bile benim sevgimi kazanamazsın. (It’s impossible to win over my love.)

#21 – Komşunun Tavuğu Komşuya Kaz Görünür 

• Literal translation: A neighbour’s chicken looks like a goose to his neighbour. 
• Meaning: The grass is greener on the other side

Rather than using grass, Turkish uses chickens and geese to describe how other people’s situations always seem better than your own.

• Onun arabası seninkinden daha güzel değil. Ne derler, komşunun tavuğu komşuya kaz görünür çünkü. (His car isn’t better than yours. As it’s been said, the grass is always greener on the other side.)

Funny Turkish Idioms

#22 – Bal Dök Yala

• Literal translation: Pour honey and lick.
• Meaning: Spotlessly clean.

Have you ever licked honey off the ground? You might consider it if the floor is spotlessly clean! The idiom is similar to the English idiom “so clean you could eat off the floors”. 

• Evi tertemiz yaptım, bal dök yala. (I made the house spotlessly clean). 

#23 – Aşağı Tükürsem Sakal, Yukarı Tükürsem Bıyık

• Literal translation: If I spit down there’s a beard, if I spit up there’s a moustache. 
• Meaning: All options are bad/Damned if you do, damned if you don’t

Ever feel like you are having to pick between the best of two evils? This idiom is the perfect idiom that captures this dilemma. 

• Öyle kötü durumda kaldım ki aşağı tükürsem sakal, yukarı tükürsem bıyık halindeyim. (I’m in the kind of situation where all options are bad one way or another.)

#24 – Keçileri Kaçırmak 

• Literal translation: To lose the goats. 
• Meaning: To go crazy.

Every language has a funny idiom to describe when someone is going crazy. In English, it’s to lose your marbles or to go bananas. In Turkish, it’s to lose the goats!

• Elektrikler yine gitti, keçileri kaçırmak üzereyim. (The electricity went out, I’m about to go crazy.)

#25 – Maydanoz Olmak 

• Literal translation: To be a parsley.
• Meaning: To be meddlesome.

When parsley grows, it goes everywhere and in all directions. So it’s no wonder that parsley inspired this funny Turkish idiom to refer to people who try to get involved in other people’s business. 

• Bu konu seni ilgilendirmez, maydanoz olma. (This doesn’t concern you, stop getting involved.)

#26 – Burnundan Kıl Aldırmamak 

• Literal translation: To pluck a hair out of one’s nose. 
• Meaning: To be arrogant/To be full of oneself/To be unable to take criticism. 

This funny Turkish phrase uses nose hairs to describe that someone is full of themselves, arrogant, or unable to take any criticism. 

• Burnundan kıl aldırmayan bir sanatçı olduğu için eserlerini eleştirilince hemen bozuluyor. (Because he’s an artist that is full of himself, he feels hurt immediately after his artwork is criticized.)

Turkish Idioms That Are Similar To English Ones

#27 – Bir Taşla Iki Kuş Vurmak 

• Literal translation: To hit two birds with one stone. 
• Meaning: To accomplish multiple things by doing one thing.

This idiom is a variation of the popular English idiom “to kill two birds with one stone”. Use it to describe when you accomplish multiple ends through one action!

• Eğer bu işi bitirirsem bir taşla iki kuş vurmuş olacağım. (If I get this job done, I’ll have killed two birds with one stone.)

#28 – Ne Ekersen Onu Biçersin 

• Literal translation: You harvest what you plant. 
• Meaning: You reap what you sow.

This idiom is a bit more self-explanatory, and holds a similar meaning to “what goes around comes around”. 

• Sürekli sınıftaki öğrencilere zorbalık eden öğretmen artık okuldan uzaklaştırıldı, neticede ne ektiyse onu biçti. (The teacher who constantly bullied the students in the class was suspended, at the end he got what was coming to him.)

#29 – Aşkın Gözü Kördür

• Literal translation: Love’s eyes are blind. 
• Meaning: Love is blind. 

This idiom is similar to the English idiom “love is blind”. It’s used to describe how people in love are blind to the faults of the persons they fall in love with, and are ignorant to the events taking place around them. 

• Yeni erkek arkadaşı ondan çok kısa, ama aşkın gözü kördür. (Her new boyfriend is shorter than her, but love is blind.)

#30 – Damlaya Damlaya Göl Olur

• Literal translation: Drop by drop makes a lake 
• Meaning: Small steps lead to greatness/Many a little makes a mickle

This idiom expresses the idea that an accumulation of small things eventually leads to something great. In English, idioms like “many a little makes a mickle” or “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” are similar in meaning. 

• Maaşımın bir kısmını ev almak için kenara koyuyorum çünkü damlaya damlaya göl olur. (I’m setting aside a part of my salary to buy a house because many a little makes a mickle.)

FAQs About Turkish Idioms

Turkish Idioms For Every Occasion

So there you have it! Here are 30 Turkish idioms that you can use in your daily life.  

These Turkish idioms will help you pick up the language, and are a great window into learning about the history and culture that shaped Turkish. 

Once you feel comfortable with using these idioms in your daily life, there’s no doubt that you’ll impress native Turkish speakers. 

So start using these Turkish idioms today to make speaking Turkish more fun! 

To help you learn, remember and use these Turkish idioms (and pick up more!) make sure you follow the rules of StoryLearning. Read Turkish books and short stories in Turkish and you'll be using idioms with ease in no time.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.