Göz atmak
Literally to throw an eye
Means to take a quick look at something
English idiom cast an eye over something
Example Şu rapora bir göz atar mısın?
Could you take a quick look at this report?
An idiom is a phrase you cannot translate word for word. Here are the 26 most common Turkish idioms, ranked by how often you will actually meet them, each with its literal translation, real meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation, so you know what natives actually mean.
Common Turkish idioms are everyday expressions whose meaning cannot be guessed from the individual words. For example, Göz atmak literally means "to throw an eye" but is used to mean to take a quick look at something. This free page ranks the 26 most common Turkish idioms by how often you meet them, each with its literal translation, meaning, the closest English idiom where one exists, and an example sentence with an English translation.
All 26 idioms, most common first.
Guess the meaning, then tap a card to check.
Idiom list verified as of August 2026.
Göz atmak
Literally to throw an eye
Means to take a quick look at something
English idiom cast an eye over something
Example Şu rapora bir göz atar mısın?
Could you take a quick look at this report?
Göz kulak olmak
Literally to be eye and ear
Means to look after someone or something for a while
English idiom keep an eye on
Example Ben yokken çocuklara göz kulak ol.
Keep an eye on the kids while I'm away.
Kafayı yemek
Literally to eat one's head
Means to lose one's mind, to snap under stress
English idiom go nuts
Example Bu gürültüyle kafayı yiyeceğim.
I'm going to lose my mind with this noise.
Note Very informal, fine with friends but out of place in formal speech.
Dört gözle beklemek
Literally to wait with four eyes
Means to look forward to something impatiently
English idiom wait with bated breath
Example Tatili dört gözle bekliyorum.
I can't wait for the holiday.
Kulak asmamak
Literally to not hang an ear
Means to pay no attention to advice or warnings
English idiom turn a deaf ear
Example Annesinin uyarılarına hiç kulak asmadı.
He paid no attention at all to his mother's warnings.
Ayvayı yemek
Literally to eat the quince
Means to end up in serious trouble
English idiom be toast
Example Sınava çalışmadım, ayvayı yedim.
I didn't study for the exam, I'm done for.
Note Slangy and informal, used between friends rather than at work.
Ateş pahası
Literally the price of fire
Means extremely expensive
English idiom cost an arm and a leg
Example Bu aralar kiralar ateş pahası.
Rents are sky high these days.
Burnu büyümek
Literally one's nose to grow
Means to become conceited or arrogant after some success
English idiom get a big head
Example Ödülü kazanınca burnu büyüdü.
He got full of himself after winning the award.
Canına tak etmek
Literally to knock on one's soul
Means to have reached the end of one's patience
English idiom have had it up to here
Example Bu trafik canıma tak etti.
I've had it up to here with this traffic.
Ağzından baklayı çıkarmak
Literally to take the fava bean out of one's mouth
Means to finally let out a secret one has been holding back
English idiom spill the beans
Example Sonunda ağzından baklayı çıkardı ve gerçeği anlattı.
He finally let it out and told the truth.
Eli kulağında
Literally its hand is at its ear
Means about to happen at any moment
English idiom just around the corner
Example Sınav sonuçları eli kulağında.
The exam results are just around the corner.
Kolları sıvamak
Literally to roll up one's sleeves
Means to get down to work with energy
English idiom roll up one's sleeves
Example Taşınmak için herkes kolları sıvadı.
Everyone rolled up their sleeves to get the move done.
Havadan sudan konuşmak
Literally to talk of air and water
Means to chat about unimportant everyday things
English idiom shoot the breeze
Example Kahve içip havadan sudan konuştuk.
We had coffee and chatted about nothing in particular.
Göz boyamak
Literally to paint the eye
Means to deceive people with a good-looking surface
English idiom pull the wool over someone's eyes
Example Bu proje sadece göz boyamaktan ibaret.
This project is nothing but window dressing.
Bal gibi bilmek
Literally to know like honey
Means to know something perfectly well, with no room for doubt
Example Nerede olduğunu bal gibi biliyorsun.
You know perfectly well where it is.
Note Bal gibi works with other verbs too (bal gibi anladın) and always adds the sense 'perfectly well'.
Kulağın çınlasın
Literally may your ear ring
Means said when you are talking about someone who is not there, or telling them afterwards
English idiom one's ears are burning
Example Senden bahsediyorduk, kulağın çınlasın.
We were just talking about you, your ears must have been burning.
Note Turkish folk belief says your ears ring when people talk about you. Said warmly, and this wish form is the one you hear most.
Ağzı kulaklarına varmak
Literally one's mouth to reach one's ears
Means to beam with joy
English idiom grin from ear to ear
Example Haberi duyunca ağzı kulaklarına vardı.
When she heard the news she was grinning from ear to ear.
Çam devirmek
Literally to fell a pine tree
Means to say something tactless that embarrasses everyone
English idiom put one's foot in one's mouth
Example Toplantıda büyük bir çam devirdi.
He really put his foot in his mouth at the meeting.
İçi içine sığmamak
Literally one's inside doesn't fit inside oneself
Means to be too excited or happy to sit still
English idiom be beside oneself with excitement
Example Kabul mektubunu görünce içi içine sığmadı.
When she saw the acceptance letter she could hardly contain herself.
Bindiği dalı kesmek
Literally to cut the branch one is sitting on
Means to act against one's own interest and ruin what supports you
English idiom shoot oneself in the foot
Example Patronunu herkesin önünde eleştirerek bindiği dalı kesti.
By criticizing his boss in front of everyone he shot himself in the foot.
Suya sabuna dokunmamak
Literally to not touch water or soap
Means to stay out of anything controversial and take no side
English idiom sit on the fence
Example Siyasi tartışmalarda hep suya sabuna dokunmaz.
In political arguments he always sits on the fence.
Tuzu kuru olmak
Literally to have dry salt
Means to be financially secure and free of the worries others have
English idiom be sitting pretty
Example Emekli maaşı iyi olduğu için onun tuzu kuru.
His pension is good, so he is sitting pretty.
Note Usually said with a touch of resentment about someone who does not share the common struggle.
Ağız birliği etmek
Literally to make a union of mouths
Means to agree in advance to tell the same story
English idiom get one's stories straight
Example Öğrenciler öğretmene karşı ağız birliği ettiler.
The students got their stories straight before facing the teacher.
Turnayı gözünden vurmak
Literally to shoot the crane in the eye
Means to land an unexpected big gain or opportunity in one go
English idiom hit the jackpot
Example Bu işe girerek turnayı gözünden vurdu.
By landing this job he hit the jackpot.
Gönlünü kaptırmak
Literally to let one's heart be snatched
Means to fall in love with someone
English idiom lose one's heart to someone
Example Komşunun kızına gönlünü kaptırmış.
Apparently he has lost his heart to the neighbor's daughter.
Note A soft, romantic way to say it, warmer than the plain âşık olmak.
Armut piş ağzıma düş
Literally pear, ripen and fall into my mouth
Means expecting good things to arrive without any effort
English idiom want everything handed to you on a plate
Example Hiç çalışmadan armut piş ağzıma düş bekliyor.
He does no work at all and expects everything to be handed to him on a plate.
Note A fixed phrase used mockingly about someone lazy, never conjugated.
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is fixed by convention, not built from its words. That is why a word-for-word translation fails: Göz atmak comes out as "to throw an eye", which makes no sense until you know it means to take a quick look at something.
Learn a few at a time, not a whole list. Pick the ones you keep running into, say them out loud in a real sentence, and you will remember them far longer than by drilling flashcards.
The most reliable way to absorb idioms is to meet them in context, again and again, in things you actually read. Parallel text and audio let you catch an idiom in a real Turkish sentence and check what it means without breaking your reading. That is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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The most common Turkish idioms, ranked by everyday frequency, start with Göz atmak, Göz kulak olmak, Kafayı yemek, Dört gözle beklemek, Kulak asmamak. Each one means something you could not guess from the words alone, which is exactly why learners have to meet them in context. This page lists 26 of them with meanings and example sentences.
In Turkish, "Göz atmak" translates literally as "to throw an eye", but it actually means to take a quick look at something. The closest English idiom is "cast an eye over something". Example: Şu rapora bir göz atar mısın? ("Could you take a quick look at this report?")
The Turkish equivalent is "Göz atmak", literally "to throw an eye". Example: Şu rapora bir göz atar mısın? ("Could you take a quick look at this report?")
In Turkish, an idiom is called deyim, and a proverb is atasözü. A deyim is a fixed figurative phrase that you build into a sentence, while an atasözü is a complete traditional saying that states a piece of folk wisdom on its own.
Idioms are non-compositional: their meaning is fixed by convention, not built from the individual words. Göz atmak translates literally as "to throw an eye", yet it means to take a quick look at something. Translate word for word and you get nonsense, so idioms have to be learned as whole units.
The fastest way is to meet them in context and reuse them, not to memorize a list. Learn a handful at a time, notice them while reading and listening, and try them in your own sentences. Reading real Turkish with tap-to-translate, the way Lingo7 works, turns every page into idiom practice.