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The Plain English Meanings of Turkish Idioms 'Ç' Related Pages: The Turkish Idioms A-Z, Index Turkish Acronyms/Abbreviations The Idiomatic M-Doublets Idioms Origin Stories, Index Idioms Illustrated by Cartoons #1 We know you've seen reference books written for English speakers about English and American Idioms. And you may have seen books for Turkish speakers on the same subject. You may even have seen books for Turkish speakers about Turkish Idioms -- all in Turkish. But have you ever seen a reference for English speakers about Turkish Idioms? Well, when we couldn't find one after looking for seven years, we decided to do-it-ourselves. Observe our sampling just for Turkish idioms that begin with the letter Ç. Site visitors may navigate to other Turkish Idioms pages using the House-Favorite Idioms Page Index. Turkish Idioms beginning with the letter Ç The Turkish The Literal English Meaning The 'Plain' English Meaning Comments and Examples Ça   çaba göstermek (harcamak, sarfetmek) to show effort to make an effort Left click for related idiom leading to article enlargement. Yıllarla birlikte kilosu da artan, ancak zayıflamak için hiçbir çaba sarfetmeyen Lily, şimdi hayatını obez olarak sürdürüyor... Lily (who added kilos together with the years, and who made almost no effort to lose weight), now continues her life in obesity... Gözcü Gazetesi, 23 June 2003 (See photo-article at left.) cağ atlamak to jump time (for a country) to make up for lost time by modernizing with lightening rapidity for sb to enter the modern age at a bound Amele pazarına gelen kadınların sayısının sürekli arttığını söyleyen Huriye hanım, "Çağ atladık" diyen siyasilere en güzel karşılığı veriyor. Lady Huriye (who claims that the number of women entering the labour market is increasing steadily) has the best response to [perplexed] politicians when she says, "We've modernized ourselves at a single bound." Gözcü Gazetesi, 8 September 2003 çakı gibi like a pocketknife very active and alert; 'on the ball' Click to see example sentence. çalı çırpı bush chip sticks and twigs Nasreddin Hocaya muziplik olsun diye evvela kurumuş ve tutmasına imkan kalmamış sekiz on adet çalı çırpı vermiş. Because he wanted to tease Nasreddin Hoca, he gave him some sticks and twigs that had no chance of being planted and taking hold, in the first place. çam devirmek Also see pot kırmak. to knock over a pine tree to make a tactless or embarrassing mistake, to 'put one's foot in it' to upset the applecart, ruin something that was going well Düşünmeden konuştu; yine çam devirdi. He spoke without thinking; again, he 'put his foot in it'. çark etmek to make/do a wheel military (for troops/ships) to wheel (in a given direction) to turn from/in/to (a [given] [new] direction) to shift (from one) direction (to another) AKP sıfır zamdan çark ediyor! İsçi sendikaları 'sıfır zamma' karşı grev tehdidinde bulununca, iktidar geri adım atma sinyali verdi. The AKP [ruling political party] turns from the [idea of a] zero salary increase [for workers]. When the worker's labor-parties threatened to strike against the [government's idea of] 'zero salary increase', party officials signaled they'd reconsider (...take a step back). Headline and caption of an article in Gözcü Gazetesi, 1 July 2003 çatır çatır çatlamak to crack with a snap to crack or splinter into pieces to be eaten up with jealousy Helga kıskançlıktan çatır çatır çatlıyor. Helga is eaten up by jealousy. çayı görmeden paçaları sıvamak See dereyi görmeden paçaları sıvamak. See dereyi görmeden paçaları sıvamak. Benim müdür olacağımı söylüyorlar, ama rakipler de oldukça kuvvetli. Bence çayı görmeden paçaları sıvamak doğru değil.102 They are saying I'll be manager, but the competition is rather strong. So, it's not right to count on my promotion yet. Çe   çekip çevirmek to pull and turn to manage (a place/thing) Küçücük kız kocaman evi çekip çeviriyor. That tiny girl manages a whole big house [by herself]. çekirge üç kez sıçramadı the grasshopper didn't jump three times See bir sıçrarsın çekirge, etc. See example sentence at: bir sıçrarsın çekirge, etc. Çı   çığrından çıkmak to go out from a path (for things) to go to far; (for something) to take a crazy course; (for someone or something) to go off on a tangent Terörist sorunu 25 yıl önce çığrından çıkmıştı. The terrorist problem took off on a crazy tangent 25 years ago. çıktı dokuza inmez sekize (5kb) he/she/it went up to nine, he/she/it won't come back to eight She increased her good/bad standing (to a level of nine), and now she can't regress (back to a level eight). Çok gururlu; çıkmış dokuza, inmez sekize. He's so vain; he rose to a certain level and now he can't go back to what he was before. Adı kötüymüş; çıkmış dokuza, inmez sekize. She's got a bad reputation, and she can't get her good name back. [Her bad reputation reached a (high level of) 9, it can't descend back to 8.] Çi   çil yavrusu gibi dağıtmak to scatter like young hazel grouse for a group to scatter to run away in every direction like a frightened covey of birds Taliban, panik içinde çil yavrusu gibi dağılırken, ABD, Usame bin Ladin başta olmak üzere 11 Eylül teröristlerini yargılamak için özel bir askeri mahkeme hazırladı. While the Taliban scatters like a frightened covey of birds, the USA has readied a special military court for the purpose of judging the 'September 11' terrorists, starting first with Osama bin Ladin. Hürriyet Gazetesi, 15 Nov 2001 çile çekmek to pull to suffering to pass through a severe trial, to suffer an ordeal to pass through a forty day novitiate Yıllardır senin çileni çektim. Okuttum, büyüttüm, adam ettim; ama sen şimdi beni görmek bile istemiyorsun.102 For years I suffered for you. I made it possible for you to be educated, I raised you, I made you a man; but now... you don't even want to see me. çile çıkarmak/doldurmak to fill to suffering to undergo a period of torment and suffering Şükrü şimdi hapishanede, özgürlüğüne kavuşacağı günü bekleyerek çile dolduruyor.102 Şükrü is in jail now, he's undergoing a period of torment while waiting for the day he'll regain his freedom. çileden çıkmak to go out of suffering to become furious, to lose control of one's temper, to blow one's stack Çiçekleri alan talan ediyor, çiçekler koparıyor, sepetleri deliyor, bahçıvanı çileden çıkarıyorlardı.99 The ones who are taking the flowers are plundering, breaking off the flowers, puncturing holes in the flower baskets and they've made the gardener furious. [G. de Maupassant] çileden çıkarmak/çıkartmak to remove (have sb removed) from suffering to infuriate; to make sb blow his/her top; to 'piss sb off' Turbanlı kadınlar Prof. Ahmet Ercan'ı çileden çıkardı! The women wearing (religious) turbans infuriated Professor Ahmet Ercan! Gözcü Gazetesi, 5 March 2005 (See photo-article at yobaz on the NRED page.) Canım, fazla ısrar etme işte, beni çileden çıkaracaksın, sonra kötü olacak.99 Look my dear, don't keep insisting. You're going to make me mad, and then something bad will happen. Erzurum'da 'Açız, işsiziz' diye bağıranları 'Saygılı olun' diye azarlayan Başbakan Tayyip Erdoğan, halkı iyice çileden çıkardı. In [the city of] Erzurum, [Turkish] Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan (who said "Be respectful" when he rebuked the protesters who cried out "We're hungry, we're unemployed") infuriated the people completely. Gözcü Gazetesi, 25 July 2003 See another example sentence at: yer vermek. çizmeden yukarı çıkmak [çıkmamak] to go up [not go up] from the boot to try to do sth one is not qualified to do; to try to do sth that is beyond one's capacity Akıllı insan çizmeden yukarı çıkmak durumunda kalmaz. 116 A smart person doesn't get stuck in a situation trying to do what is beyond his/her capacity. Click below to see the related Turkish proverb, in the Ottoman detective-story 'Habibullah and The Great Cannon Caper'... And, coming soon... The Rest of the Turkish Idiom Story Ço   Çok safsın! You're so gullible! You're so naïve! You're so gullible! May be used as shown... Çü   çürük tahtaya basmak Also see: yaş tahtaya basmak. to step on a rotten board to fall into a trap to be duped; to be swindled O, tedbirli ve akıllı bir insandı, nasıl oldu da çürük tahtaya bastı.102 He's a very prudent and intelligent guy. So how did he fall into that trap? Also see example sentence at: yaş tahtaya basmak. Related Pages: The Turkish Idioms A-Z, Index Turkish Acronyms/Abbreviations The Idiomatic M-Doublets Idioms Origin Stories, Index Idioms Illustrated by Cartoons #1 Unrelated fun: Turkish Recipe, Kadınbudu Köfte (Kadinbudu Kofte) - 'a womans thigh' Cheese -- Best Turkish Cheeses, Gourmet Top 10 Wine -- Best Turkish Wines, Gourmet Top 10 Turkish Movies - Best-Looking Bad Girl of the 1970s, Sevda Ferdağ Bad Girls of the 1970s Turkish Cinema, Aliye Rona Frequently asked questions about Turkey and the Turkish language llustrated Nargile Users Guide -- and Encyclopedia Our Honda Generator -- A Member of the Family 'Erotik' Movies -- The Short Unhappy Life of Mine Mutlu Erotik Angel? -- Melek Görgün Sizzling transsexual -- Emel Aydan Erotik 'Second Banana' -- Gülden Gül Deep-inside Dilber Ay White-Hot Real Blonde... the Ceyda Karahan Center Figen Han -- Fire down below... Arzu Okay -- brainy 'erotik' bombshell The Feri Cansel Story -- an erotik 'Beauty and the Beast' Zerrin Egeliler - (most of) everything you always wanted to know The Seyyal Taner Center The Seher Şeniz Center Tarkan's Metamorphosis Album -- Christmas Day Release Turkish Music -- Tarkan Real-Life Weight Loss a la turc - with alcohol! Habibullah and the Great Cannon Caper A simple Turkish 'thing'... Turkish Music -- Kayahan Turkish Belly Dancers Turkish Food and Turkish Drink Turkish Terms Of Endearment Turkish Personal Names Politically Incorrect Turkish Humor Why Off-Color Turkish is important too Gossipy Turkish Who's Who Turkish Movies -- Conventional and 'Erotik', Index We wish to extend thanks to Emin Özdemir, Osman Çizmeciler, Ömer Asım Aksoy, H. Fethi Gözler, Ferit Devellioğlu, Nermin and Muammer Yüzbaşıoğlu, Halil Uysal, Ali Püsküllüoğlu, and Ali Uslu for their Turkish Idioms source material -- on which some of this page is based.

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