What These Turkish Sayings Mean: A Guide to the Roots & Talks Designs

Some Turkish sentences are said so often at home that nobody hears them anymore. They sound small, yet each one carries a lot of care. If you grew up with these sayings, you know the feeling at once. If you did not, a word-for-word translation can miss it. This guide explains six sayings from the Roots & Talks designs, and one design that needs no words. For each saying you will find what the words mean, when people say them and what they are really saying. Each section ends with a link to the matching collection, and you can see every design in the Turkish Culture Designs collection.

Yemek yedin mi? Have you eaten?

Take the words one at a time. Yemek means food or a meal, and it is also the verb "to eat". Yedin means "you ate", and mi turns the sentence into a question. Together they ask: "Have you eaten?"

It is a very ordinary question. A grandmother asks it on the phone. A parent asks it when you walk in the door. Many families ask it before they ask anything else. It is rarely about food. It means "I am thinking of you, and I want you to be well." The design adds a handwritten line, Bizde sevgi böyle konuşur, which means "This is how love speaks in our home."

See the Yemek Yedin Mi? collection.

Hırkanı al, üşürsün: Take your cardigan, you'll get cold

A hırka is a cardigan. Al means "take", and üşürsün means "you will feel cold". The sentence is a small order with a reason attached, and that is the clue to its meaning.

Many parents and grandparents say it as soon as the weather turns. Some say it when the weather has not turned at all. Nobody expects a long talk about clothes. The sentence says "I care about you, and I would like you to be warm." The design puts it in a second line, Bir cümlelik sıcacık bir sarılma, which means "A warm hug in one sentence."

See the Hırkanı Al, Üşürsün collection.

Çay koy, geliyorum: Put the tea on, I'm coming

Çay is tea, koy is "put" and geliyorum is "I am coming". People say it when they are on their way to someone they love and would like a glass of tea waiting. It is friendly and a little bossy. In many Turkish homes tea is the first thing a guest is offered, so this short sentence tells the host that the visit has already begun.

If you would like to know how Turkish tea is brewed and served, read Turkish Tea Culture, Explained in Nine Glasses. You can also see the Çay Koy, Geliyorum collection.

Poşetlerin poşeti: The bag of bags

A poşet is a carrier bag. Poşetlerin means "of the bags", so poşetlerin poşeti is "the bag of bags". In many homes, people keep their carrier bags inside one bag, ready to be used again. The saying is a friendly joke about that habit. Nobody is being criticized. People say it with a smile, because anyone who knows the habit enjoys the joke. The design adds Her evin bir klasiği, which means "A classic in every home."

See the Poşetlerin Poşeti collection.

İki dil, iki kat muhabbet: Two languages, twice the conversation

İki means "two" and dil means "language". Kat means "fold", so iki kat is "twofold" or "twice". Muhabbet is a warm, friendly conversation, the kind that goes on over a glass of tea. Together the words say that a family with two languages has twice the conversation.

The design shows Pingucan, the penguin in the red scarf, between two speech bubbles. Merhaba! is Turkish for "Hello!", and the other bubble says it in English. Pingucan is one of the Roots & Talks characters, and you can meet the whole group on the characters page. For families who live between Turkish and English, this saying is a nice way to see both languages as something to enjoy together. See the İki Dil, İki Kat Muhabbet collection.

Bir masal daha: One more story

Bir means "one", masal means a tale or a fairy tale, and daha means "more". It is what a child says at bedtime when a story ends and they are not ready to stop. Many Turkish tales begin with the traditional opening Bir varmış, bir yokmuş, which means "once there was, once there was not".

The design shows Eylül, one of the Roots & Talks characters. She is a girl with braids in an orange sweater and a blue pinafore, and she collects her favorite words in her notebook. For read-aloud ideas, try Turkish Bedtime Stories: 7 Ideas for Read-Alouds at Home. You can also see the Bir Masal Daha collection.

The Simit and Tea Badge: a design without words

This design needs no translation. A winking penguin in a red scarf holds a simit, a ring of sesame bread, and a glass of Turkish tea. A round red badge with gold tulips frames the picture. Simit and tea are a classic Turkish pair, and our guide Simit and Tea: The Classic Turkish Street Pair, Explained tells the story. You can find the badge in the Simit and Tea Badge collection. For more Turkish culture designs, browse the Turkish culture collection.

Small ways to use these sayings

1. Say it out loud. Say the Turkish first, then the English. The sound matters as much as the meaning.
2. Use it for real. Ask Yemek yedin mi? on the phone. Say Çay koy, geliyorum when you are on your way to a friend.
3. Ask a grandparent. Which of these sayings did they hear most as a child? Which one do they say most today?
4. Pick one saying a week. Write it on the fridge and use it as often as you can. Children enjoy hearing a familiar sentence turn up again.

A saying is a small door into a language, and it does not replace talking at home. For more words and ideas, read 15 Turkish Words Every Kid Should Hear Before Age 8 and Turkish Culture Activities for Kids: A Month of 10-Minute Ideas. For another phrase with a warm meaning, see Sana Da Meaning: What It Means in Turkish and How to Use It. And to learn about the blue bead that people hang in homes, read What Is a Nazar Boncuğu?