Turkish

Turkish proverbs, at a glance

• The guest is the servant of the host

  Misafir ev sahibinin kuludur

  Literally: Guest, of-the-house's-owner, is-the-servant

  Turkish · Turkey

  Set beside

  • Mandarin — the same deference, in the lighter register of social courtesy
  • Japanese — accept the host's eccentric red cap; the deference made affectionate
  • Russian — the same deference, dramatized: as a guest, as in captivity

• Save the straw — its time will come.

  Sakla samanı, gelir zamanı

  Literally: Keep the straw, its time comes

  Turkish · Türkiye

  Set beside

  • Hebrew — the ant of Proverbs lays up her food in summer: the same foresight, framed as a creature's instinct rather than a household habit
  • English — gather while the weather lets you, against the lean season coming: provisioning timed to the open window
  • Spanish — the dissent: take the sure thing now and don't hoard for a maybe-later; the present good over the saved one

• The tongue has no bone

  Dilin kemiği yoktur

  Literally: Of-the-tongue, its-bone, there-is-not

  Turkish · Turkey

  Set beside

  • Italian — same image, completed: the boneless tongue breaks bones
  • Russian — a different image (the escaped sparrow), the same claim about speech you cannot retrieve
  • Mandarin — the chase recast as a chariot, courtly antiquity instead of farmyard
  • Japanese — five characters, no metaphor, just naming the place trouble comes from

• Two captains sink the ship.

  İki kaptan bir gemiyi batırır.

  Literally: Two captains, one ship, sink-it.

  Turkish · Türkiye

  Set beside

  • Mandarin — same claim, predatorial territory instead of a deck
  • Persian (Saadi) — dissolution of a state rather than wreck of a vessel
  • Arabic — bladed and intimate; the rivals are housed inside each other