Ethnic Expressions
Turkish Proverbs / Turkish Expressions / Turkish Idioms
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Turkish Proverbs, Idioms, and Expressions
Empty words will not fill an empty stomach.
Hope is the bread of the poor
Demand a task from a lazy person, and be ready to receive advise.
A heart in love with beauty never grows old.
No rose without a thorn, or a love without a rival.
A white day sheds light, and a black day sheds darkness.
Do not dock the donkey’s tail in a crowd, some will say it’s too long, others it’s too short.
A worthy man is still worthy even penniless, a donkey is a donkey even if he is finely saddled.
Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love
Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose.
No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back
An open mouth remains no hungry.
Two cocks won’t crow on the same dunghill.
If babies don’t cry, mothers won’t give milk.
He who does evil to others, does it to himself.
Whoever the heart loves, she is the beauty.
No matter how tall a tree grows its leaves always fall to the ground.
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He who borrows gets sorrows.
A heavy stone is not easily moved.
There is an uphill for every downhill, and a downhill for every uphill.
A nail will come out, but its hole remains.
Gold does not rust on the ground, and rocks don’t get soaked in the rain.
A twig is bent while it is green.
It will come up like olive oil.
He who sends a child on an errand must go after him as well.
Either drive this camel to pasture or leave the country.
White clothes soon get dirty.
They asked the Turkmen whether he wants to buy bees, he said Why should I have all that buzz with my money?
Tell me who your friend is, and I’ll tell you who you are.
Say uncle to a bear until you cross the bridge.
In a flat country a hillock thinks itself a mountain.
Kiss the hand which you cannot wring.
Remain hungry but do not start begging.
He who sleeps with a blind man will wake up cross-eyed.
Don’t pull up your pants before you see the water.
Every one is a lord in his own home.
If the insolent man is strong, the one in the right is considered guilty.
A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship.
A man is judged by his work.
With patience, mulberry leaves become satin.
Work as if you were to live forever; live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Two captains will sink the ship
A neighbors hen looks as big as a goose, and his wife as young as a girl.
A pound is sixteen ounces wherever you go.
A red apple invites stones.
An over-protected eye gets the speck.
What a man is at seven is also what he is at seventy.
The tree branch should be bent when it is young.
It takes two hands to make a sound.
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A small key opens big doors.
A thousand friends are too few; one enemy is one too many.
A tribulation is better than a hundred warnings.
Ability has no school.
Activity breeds prosperity.
An illness comes by the pound and goes away by the ounce.
Drop by drop, it will make a pond.
Liar’s candle will last till evening.
Every man has his own style of eating yogurt.
Empty words will not fill an empty stomach.
Hope is the bread of the poor
Demand a task from a lazy person, and be ready to receive advise.
An open door invites callers.
At table keep a short hand; in company keep a short tongue.
Beauty Passes, wisdom remains.
Better a calf of ones own than a jointly owned cow.
Even the highest tree has an axe waiting at its foot.
Every “bad”; has its “worse”.
A lion sleeps in the heart of every brave man.
A good man will appear when talked about
A dog that intends to bite does not bear its teeth.
God has created us brothers but has given us separate purses.
Guests bring good luck with them.
Habit is worse than rabies.
He beats his breast who does not beat his child.
He bites his tongue who speaks in haste.
He gives twice who gives quickly.
If a dogs prayers were answered, bones would rain from the sky.
If skill could be gained by watching, every dog would become a butcher.
If you are an anvil, be patient; if you are a hammer, be strong.
If you give him cloth, he’ll ask for the lining.
A fool dreams of wealth; a wise man, of happiness.
A man is as wise as his head, not his years.
If you wish to do a good deed, consult no one.
It is more difficult to contend with oneself than with the world.
Kind words will unlock an iron door
Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.
Many will show you the way once your cart has overturned.
No matter where you go, your destiny follows you.
Of everything else the newest; of friends, the oldest.
Once a friend, always a friend.
One can never repay ones debt to ones mother.
One does not burn a blanket to get rid of a flea.
A full purse is ones best companion.
A good companion shortens the longest road.
A hungry stomach has no ears. A kind word warms a man throughout three winters.
A knife-wound heals, but a tongue wound festers.
One is equally indebted to ones teacher and to God.
Part with your head, but not with your secret.
Patience is bitter, but it bears sweet fruit.
Roses grow where a teacher sits.
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Stairs are climbed step by step.
Stretch your feet according to your blanket.
Every sheep is hung by his own leg. Fear an ignorant man more than a lion Fear him who fears not God.
For every wise man there is one still wiser.
Give nine, save ten
God finds a low branch for the bird that cannot fly.
Study from new books but from old teachers
The devil takes a hand in what is done in haste.
The granary is at the point of the plowshare.
The miser and the open-handed spend the same in the long run.
Better a wise foe than a foolish friend.
Do what your teacher says but not what he does.
Eat and drink with your friends but do not trade with them.
Who buys cheap buys dear.
Whoever digs a pit for his neighbor should dig it his own size.
A defeated wrestler never tires of wrestling again.
The rich mans wealth tires the poor man’s jaw.
The sage speaks of what he sees; the fool, of what he hears.
Those who know do not talk; those who talk do not know.
Whoever is fond of cream should take the cow around with him.
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It is easier to make a camel jump a ditch than to make a fool listen to reason.
It is easy to catch a serpent with someone else’s hand.
It is easy to say Come; difficult to say Go.
Whoever speaks evil to you of others will speak evil of you to others.
Wish well, be well.
A kind word warms a man throughout three winters.
The devil tempts all other men, but idle men tempt the devil
He that conceals his grief finds no remedy for it
A person does not seek luck; luck seeks the person
Patience is the key to paradise
A fool dreams of wealth; a wise man, of happiness.
Even though you know a thousand things, ask the man who knows one
A weapon is an enemy even to its owner
He that falls by himself never cries.
Before you love, Learn to run through the snow Leaving no footprint
Fear an ignorant man more than a lion
If a man would live in peace he should be blind, deaf, and dumb
Do not search for a calf under a bull The dog that barks does not bite.
The cock that crows too early gets his head cut off.
Sharp vinegar only damages its container.
If one is far away, one also gets far away from the heart.
You harvest what you sow.
One who sows wind will reap hurricane.
It is not disgraceful to ask, it is disgraceful not to know.
A bachelor feels like a sultan.
The fly is small, but it can upset your stomach.
Love is daring.
To the raven’s eye, its chickens look like falcons.
The sheep separated from the flock gets eaten by the wolf.
An ember burns where it falls.
Lets water run unnoticed under straw.
Look at the mother before marrying the daughter.
One who does not slap his children, will slap his knees.
A wise man does his own work.
A wise man remembers his friends at all times; a fool, only when he has need of them.
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