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LPT SymbolThe Plain English Meanings of
Turkish Idioms

For the letter 'G'...

If you've ever felt lost trying to follow a Turkish conversation,
it may be because of these
'comprehension killers'

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Click Here!


Idioms beginning with 'A'
Idioms beginning with 'B'
Idioms beginning with 'Z'
'House favorite' idioms...

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Another installment in our continuing saga --
featuring some of the world's most intriguing idiomatic expressions...
Observe our humble sampling just for the Turkish idioms that begin
with the letter G…

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Remember not to overlook the clickable links for
voice recordings [Sounds] and for
the sidebar entries entitled,
The Rest of the Idiom Story
which cover interesting 'origins' of the idioms
found in the following table ...

Turkish Idioms beginning with the letter G
[Ga] [Ge] [GI] [Gi] [] [Gu] []

The Turkish

The Literal English Meaning

The 'Plain' English Meaning

Comments and Examples

Ga   

gagasIndan yakalamak

Ed. 5.0
(14k)

To catch/grab from the beak... To have (someone) at one's mercy; to have someone by the short and curlies...

Art niyetli ortagInI sonunda gagasIndan yakaladI.

Ed. 5.0
(33k)

He finally caught his partner in his hidden intentions.

gavura kIzIp oruç yemek

Ed. 5.0
(21k)

To be angry at a Christian and to break the Ramazan fast...
  1. To hurt oneself to spite another...
  2. "To cut off your nose to spite your face"...

Hiç yüzünden ortaklIktan ayrIldI; gavura kIzIp oruç yedi.

Ed. 5.0
(36k)

He separated from his partner for no good reason; he cut off his nose to spite his face.

Ge   

gece silahlI gündüz külahlI

at night with a gun, during the day with a conical hat...
  1. leading a double life...
  2. having a 'Jeykell and Hyde' personality...

Onun ne yolda oldugu bilinmez; gece silahlI gündüz külahlI gezer...
It's unknown what he'll do (on what road he'll be); he's got two personalities...

geçti Bor'un pazarI (sür essegi Nigde'ye)

Ed. 5.0
(7k)

the pazar at Bor is over (drive the stupid donkey to Nigde)

You missed your chance, it's too late to do anything (about it) now.

O mal çoktan satIldI, geçti Bor'un pazarI.

That merchandize was sold a long time ago, you missed your chance to buy it…

Click for, The Rest of the Idiom Story!

gerek…gerek…gerek(se)

  1. Whether… this thing, or that thing, or the other thing.
  2. Both …this thing and that thing.
Same.

Gerek ben durayIm, gerek siz durun, gerek o dursun, isin sonu degismez.
Whether I stay, or you stay, or he stays, nothing's going to change.


Bu haber, gerek Washington'da gerekse Moscow'da kötü bir hava yaratmIstIr.
This news has caused bad feeling in both Washington and Moscow.
Simdiye kadar gerek kâfir, gerek müslüman teknelerini hep geçerdim.
Up to now, whether it were a Christian ship or Muslim ship, I outran them all.
Gerek ben feryat edeyim, gerek siz feryat edin, gerek o feryat etsin, hepimiz dondurma için feryat ederiz. Whether I scream or you scream or she screams, we all scream for ice cream...
Click for an example in a more difficult sentence...
   

gönlünü almak

To take heart... To make up with, to please, to restore relations with...

Pek çok degerli hediye gönderip günlünü aldI.
He sent valuable gifts and restored relations.

gönül eglence

Heart amusement... Pastime, amusement...

O benim esim degil, gönül eglencem idi.
She isn't my wife, she's my pastime.

Görmemisin oglu olmus, çekmis çükünü koparmIs.

There was a son of an upstart, he pulled at [the child's] penis plucking it off.

[That person is] without social graces, "An ignorant man, can't handle good fortune."; [he/she is] nouveau riche; "You can't take him 'nowhere' nice."

Used as is.

görüp görecegi rahmet bu

This, with God's mercy, he sees and he will see

This is all he will ever get.

OlanaklarI çok iyi degenlendir; görüp görecegin rahmet budur.

He gets the most out of situations considering the possibilities; you won't see any more.

Click for, The Rest of the Idiom Story!

göz açtIrmamak

To not cause an eye to open...
  • To give no chance or respite...
  • To give (someone) no chance to do anything else.

Oruç korsanlIk etmeye basladI. Rodos gemilerine göz açtIrmIyordu.
Oruç became a pirate. He gave no respite to the ships of Rhodes.


Ödevler, sInav hazIrlIklarI bu ay göz açtIrmIyordu.
His homework and exam preparations gave him no time for anything else this month.
Gözüm çIksIn. May my eyes go out. Believe me...I'm not lying to you. Gözüm çIksIn yalanIm varsa. (La Fontaine)
May my eyes pop out if I'm lying.
Gözüm seyiriyor Allah hayra (hayIra) çIkarsIn. My eyes are twitching, but I hope to God that nothing bad is coming. I've got this bad feeling that something will go wrong. May be used as is...
Gözün(üz) aydIn. Your eyes light... I'm happy for you!/Congratulations! (said only for a happy event that has been awaited, like the arrival of your family member back from a trip.) Gözün aydIn, torunun olmus. Congratulations, [I hear that] you have a grandson!
   
Güle güle kullan/kullanIn/kullanInIz. Use smiling smiling. Enjoy it!
(Said to someone who has recently acquired something.)
Used as is.
gürül gürül.
  1. With a loud roaring sound -- rumblingly, thuderously...
  2. With a loud strong voice, boomingly...
Same. Kitapdan gürül gürül okudu. He read from the book in a good strong voice.


Idioms beginning with 'A'
Idioms beginning with 'B'
Idioms beginning with 'Z'
'House favorite' idioms...

We wish to extend thanks to
Emin Özdemir, Osman Çizmeciler, Ömer AsIm Aksoy, H. Fethi Gözler,
Ferit Devellioglu, Nermin and Muammer YüzbasIoglu,
Halil Uysal, Ali Püsküllüoglu, and Ali Uslu

for their Turkish source material -- on which this page is based.
And, to our new friends Hasan AyrancI and Deniz Sarioz
-- for their help, insight, and understanding --
we extend our sincere thanks...

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