Atasözleri ve deyimler — proverbs and idioms
Turkish loves proverbs (atasözleri) and fixed idioms (deyimler). They show up in everyday speech, news headlines, and especially in advice. Learning a dozen of the most common ones gives you instant 'native flavor' — and most have built-in grammar drills (aorist tense, -de suffixes, conditional -se). Today's six are absolutely standard: damlaya damlaya göl olur, ayağını yorganına göre uzat, sakla samanı, gelir zamanı, bir elin nesi var, iki elin sesi var, acele işe şeytan karışır, and gülme komşuna, gelir başına.
Damlaya damlaya göl olur
Literally: 'Drop by drop, a lake forms'. Meaning: small efforts add up. The English equivalent is 'every little helps' or 'many a mickle makes a muckle'. Grammar note: damla ('drop') + dative -ya + reduplication (damlaya damlaya) is a common adverbial pattern meaning 'X by X'. Also: adım adım (step by step), yavaş yavaş (slowly slowly = gradually). Used to console someone making slow progress: Türkçen henüz mükemmel değil ama damlaya damlaya göl olur.
Ayağını yorganına göre uzat
Literally: 'Stretch your foot according to your blanket.' Meaning: live within your means. The structure X-ına göre = 'according to X' is a useful B2 pattern: maaşıma göre ('according to my salary'), havaya göre ('depending on the weather'). Used as a piece of financial wisdom — when someone wants to buy more than they can afford.
Sakla samanı, gelir zamanı
Literally: 'Save the straw, its time will come.' Meaning: don't throw away what looks useless — you may need it later. sakla is the imperative of saklamak (to hide / keep). gelir zamanı is poetic word order for zamanı gelir = 'its time comes'. The whole proverb has rhyme: samanı / zamanı. Used to defend keeping old things: Bu eski paltoyu atma — sakla samanı, gelir zamanı.
Bir elin nesi var, iki elin sesi var
Literally: 'What does one hand have? Two hands have sound.' Meaning: cooperation beats solo effort — 'two heads are better than one'. nesi var = 'what does it have', sesi var = 'has sound (i.e. claps)'. The clap-with-two-hands image is the punchline. Used to encourage teamwork: Yalnız çalışma; bir elin nesi var, iki elin sesi var.
Acele işe şeytan karışır & Gülme komşuna
Acele işe şeytan karışır — 'The devil interferes with hasty work.' Meaning: 'haste makes waste'. Acele = haste, karışmak = to interfere / to be mixed up in. Gülme komşuna, gelir başına — 'Don't laugh at your neighbor; it'll come upon your head.' Meaning: 'don't gloat — it could happen to you'. gülme is negative imperative of gülmek ('don't laugh'); gelir başına = 'comes upon your head' (aorist 'will come'). These two are classic moral-of-the-story lines.
