Turkish Idiom Stories -- Letter D

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**The Rest of the Turkish Idiom Stories**

Idiom origin stories to interest, amaze, and amuse you

for the letter
'D'

In Turkey - Türkiye'de

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Related Pages:

Other Idioms Origin Stories, Index

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Turkish Acronyms/Abbreviations

The Idiomatic M-Doublets

The Rest of the Story about...

Dimyat'a pirince giderken evdeki bulgurdan olmak (Lit. to be without bulgur at home when you go to Dimyat (Damietta) for rice...) -- Idiomatic meaning: to lose what one already has in the pursuit of what one presumes to be better...

The story...Once upon an Ottoman time, a rich Turkish rice-merchant set sail from Istanbul with a money-belt full of gold -- heading for Dimyat. There he planned to buy a large consignment of fine rice, which he could turn into great profit at home. In fact, he'd already begun spending the expected profit on credit -- which his moneylender had been pleased to advance.

Sadly, his ship was hijacked in the Mediterranean by an Arab pirate -- who stripped and robbed the poor rice-merchant clean, taking all the gold in his overstuffed money belt.

After he returned to Turkey, the rice-merchant was beset by 1,001 difficulties -- and had to declare bankruptcy. So he abandoned Istanbul and retreated to his hometown, Karaman, where at least he still had a few productive wheat fields. But, faced with growing financial problems, he had no choice but to surrender his entire crop to the local grain-merchant -- who set off with it for Istanbul where he reckoned that he could turn a greater profit. But on the way to Istanbul...

And, that winter...the poor rice-merchant's family suffered greatly, unable even to afford plain bulgur (a wheat by-product) for their own pitiful dining table. He had lost the simple pleasure of that 'ordinary' mealtime staple at home -- because of his pursuit of the fine rice of Dimyat, abroad. And a Turkish idiom was borne...

In Turkey - Türkiye'de

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Idioms Illustrated by Turkish News, Cartoons, etc.