Who is 'buluttan nem kapmak' said about?

A person who takes offence at the slightest thing

What does 'tereciye tere satmak' mean?

To show off your knowledge to someone who knows the job far better

What does 'iğneyle kuyu kazmak' describe?

Doing a very hard job with patience and determination

Who is 'ağzında bakla ıslanmamak' said about?

A person who cannot keep a secret

What does 'pireyi deve yapmak' mean?

To blow a small thing out of proportion

What does 'dereyi görmeden paçaları sıvamak' describe?

Acting early before the outcome is clear

What does 'saman altından su yürütmek' mean?

To scheme secretly without letting it show

What does 'kaş yapayım derken göz çıkarmak' describe?

Making things worse while trying to fix them

What does 'Dimyat'a pirince giderken evdeki bulgurdan olmak' mean?

To lose what you have while looking for something better

Idioms quiz: how good is your command of Turkish?

'Etekleri zil çalmak' or 'buluttan nem kapmak'? In 10 idioms we measure the colourful world of Turkish.

10 questions · 3 min

Idioms are the memory of a language: the observation of centuries, squeezed into two or three words, is carried from tongue to tongue. Turkish is one of the richest languages in the world in this respect — but in daily life we hear most of them and pass on, never thinking about the meaning again.

In this quiz we ask the real meaning of 10 idioms. The options were built to confuse; do not rush, try using the idiom in a sentence in your head. At the end there is a little report card about your command of Turkish.