Çorum Proverbs and Idioms

Published in 2013 as a culture publication of the Çorum Municipality, Çorum Yöresi Sözlü Kültürü (“The Oral Culture of the Çorum Region”) brings together proverbs, idioms, praises, curses, oaths, comparisons and much more oral-culture material collected over the years by teacher and writer Can Yoksul. The book arranges more than 27,000 sayings alphabetically from A to Z, with roughly 1,000 footnote explanations across its 700 pages (Çorum Yöresi Sözlü Kültürü, p. VII). This page presents only a small sample selected from the book; for the full collection, the book itself should be consulted. For the sound features of the Çorum dialect and local vocabulary, see the Çorum Dictionary page.

The Book and Its Compiler: Can Yoksul

Can Yoksul was born in 1949 in the village of Tolamehmet in Çorum. He completed his primary education at Çorum Cumhuriyet Primary School, then studied at the Atatürk Teacher Training School in Ankara-Hasanoğlan and the Dicle Teacher Training School in Diyarbakır-Ergani. His childhood and early youth were spent herding and farming, and he also worked in construction; he taught school from 1968 to 1978, after which he left teaching to become an administrator at Çorum “KÖY-KOOP,” the umbrella body of the province’s agricultural village development cooperatives. In that role he traveled through hundreds of villages, gathering thousands of sayings over the years (Çorum Yöresi Sözlü Kültürü, p. IV, XIII). Having lived in Europe for a long period, Can Yoksul published poems and writings in various newspapers and magazines both in Turkey and abroad, and founded and long edited a magazine called “Akturna” in Europe. He is the author of poetry collections including Bozkırların Çocuğu (“Child of the Steppes,” 1970), Deli (“Mad,” 1974), Gündönümü (“Solstice,” 1980), Zulada Kalan Türküler (“Songs Left Behind in Exile,” 1983) and İnsanlığın Türküleri (“Songs of Humanity,” 1986) (p. IV).

Method and Scope of the Collection

The book’s editing was undertaken by teacher İbrahim Gösterir, who had earlier prepared a dictionary of the Çorum dialect also published as a Çorum Municipality culture publication; it was Gösterir who encouraged Can Yoksul to undertake this collection (p. XIII). According to the subtitle on the book’s cover, the collection covers many types of oral-culture material: proverbs, idioms, praises, aphorisms, mockeries, slang, advice, curses (imprecations, maledictions), jokes, threats, oaths, comparisons, similes, suggestions, beliefs, folk judgments, complaints and witticisms (p. I). According to editor Gösterir’s foreword, the sayings in the book are not explained beyond what is strictly necessary, given only with footnotes where needed; idioms and proverbs are generally given within an example sentence, and profanity was excluded from the collection (p. IX).

The selection below is drawn from the book’s sayings, organized by theme; each is followed by its page number in the book.

Work and Labor

• Çalışan demir pas tutmaz. — “Iron that is used does not rust.” (p. 199)
• Çalışanın aç, çalışmayanın tok kaldığını görmedim. — “I’ve never seen the one who works go hungry while the one who doesn’t stays full.” (p. 199)
• Çalışana da aşk olsun, çalıştırana da. — “Praise to the one who works, and to the one who sets them to work.” (p. 199)
• İş başa düşünce dağlar aşılır. — “When the task falls on you, mountains can be crossed.” (p. 402)
• İş bilenin, kılıç kuşananın. — “The task belongs to the one who knows it, the sword to the one who wears it.” (p. 402)
• İş bilmeyenin işini de aşını da bitirirler. — “Whoever doesn’t know a trade ends up losing both the work and the meal.” (p. 402)
• Emeksiz yemek olmaz. — “There is no meal without labor.” (p. 285)
• Tembele iş buyurursan, sana akıl öğretmeye kalkar. — “Give the lazy one a task, and he starts teaching you how to do it instead.” (p. 602)
• Tembele bulut yük olur. — “For the lazy, even a cloud is a burden.” (p. 602)

Neighborliness and Hospitality

• Komşu hakkı Tanrı hakkıdır. — “A neighbor’s due is God’s due.” (p. 460)
• Komşu komşunun külüne muhtaçtır. — “A neighbor needs even a neighbor’s ashes.” (p. 460)
• Komşuda pişer, bize de düşer. — “What is cooked at the neighbor’s falls to us too.” (p. 460)
• Komşunun iyisine paha biçilmez. — “A good neighbor is priceless.” (p. 460)
• Komşu kadın biraz terelellidir. — “The neighbor woman is a bit terelelli.” The book glosses terelelli as “light-headed and flighty.” (p. 460)
• Misafir ev sahibinin danasıdır, nereye isterse oraya bağlar. — “A guest is the host’s calf; the host ties it wherever he wants.” (p. 498)
• Misafir umduğunu değil, bulduğunu yer. — “A guest eats not what he hoped for, but what he finds.” (p. 498)
• Misafirin iyisi kovulmadan gider. — “A good guest leaves before being asked to.” (p. 498)
• Konuk gelince evde uğur olur, konuk gidince ev sağır olur. — “When a guest arrives the house gains good fortune; when the guest leaves, the house falls silent.” (p. 461)
• Misafirlik en çok üç gündür. — “A guest’s stay is three days at most.” (p. 499)

Family and Marriage

• Evlenmek bir borçtur, insanın özrü olmadıkça bu borcu ödemeye mâhkumdur. — “Marriage is a duty; unless a person has an excuse, they are bound to fulfill it.” (p. 301)
• Evlenmek de haktır, ayrılmak da. — “Marrying is a right, and so is separating.” (p. 301)
• Evliliğin kılavuzu akıl değil, aşktır. — “The guide of marriage is not reason, but love.” (p. 301)
• Evli evinde, köylü köyünde gerek. — “A married person belongs in their own home, a villager in their own village.” (p. 301)
• Karı koca ipektir, araya giren köpektir. — “Husband and wife are silk; whoever comes between them is a dog.” (p. 428)
• Gelin eşikte, oğlan beşikte. — “The bride at the threshold, the boy still in the cradle.” (p. 321)
• Gelin evin yakışığı, kaynana yur bulaşığı. — “The bride is the house’s ornament; the mother-in-law washes the dishes.” (p. 321)
• Kaynana ile gelin birbirlerini tırnaklamak için doğmuşlardır. — “Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were born to claw at each other.” (p. 434)

For documented birth, marriage and wedding customs, see Birth and Marriage Traditions in Çorum.

Animal Husbandry and Farming

• Öküz alırsan boyunduruk doldurursun, karı alırsan evini doldurursun. — “If you buy an ox, you fill the yoke; if you take a wife, you fill your house.” (p. 525)
• Öküz öldü ortaklık bozuldu. — “The ox died, and the partnership fell apart.” (p. 525)
• Koyun bağlı olduğu yerde otlar. — “A sheep grazes where it is tied.” (p. 463)
• Koyun çobansız olmaz. — “There is no flock without a shepherd.” (p. 463)
• Tarlada izi olmayanın harmanda yüzü olmaz. — “One who leaves no trace in the field has no standing on the threshing floor.” (p. 597)
• Harman demek devran demektir. — “Threshing time means good fortune’s turn.” (p. 358)
• Ekin biçmek, tırpan sallamak marifet ister. — “Reaping grain and swinging a scythe take skill.” The book glosses ekin as “grain crops such as barley, wheat and rye.” (p. 267)
• Ekinin boyuna posuna güvenme, harmandaki çece güven. — “Don’t trust the height and look of the grain; trust the chaff on the threshing floor.” (p. 267)

Weather and Seasons

• Yağmur yağarsa bağ olur, yağmazsa çöl olur. — “If it rains, it becomes a vineyard; if not, it becomes a desert.” (p. 633)
• Kar toprağın bereketidir. — “Snow is the soil’s abundance.” (p. 424)
• Kar ekinin yorganıdır. — “Snow is the grain’s blanket.” (p. 424)
• Kış geldi kapıya dayandı. — “Winter has come and is now at the door.” (p. 451)
• Kış kıştan yamandır. — “One winter is harsher than another.” (p. 451)
• Baharın kuzuları, meleşip inletir yazıları. — “Spring’s lambs bleat and fill the meadows with sound.” (p. 104)
• Baharın sabana, güzün tapana mukayyet ol. — “Mind the plow in spring, and the hoe in autumn.” (p. 104)
• Güz güzünen, yaz yazınan; kış kışınan, iş başınan. — “Autumn has its own work, summer its own, winter its own — each season, its task.” (p. 350)

Humor

The collection also contains many witty sayings framed as questions and answers, spoken in the voice of animals or folk characters:

• Karısından korkmayan ayağa kalksın demişler. Adamın biri kalkmamış: Sen korkmuyor musun diye sorulunca, karının adını duyunca korkudan dizlerimin bağı çözüldü ondan kalkamadım demiş. — “They said, ‘Whoever isn’t afraid of his wife, stand up.’ One man didn’t stand. Asked if he wasn’t afraid, he said, ‘When I heard my wife’s name, my knees gave way from fear — that’s why I couldn’t stand up.’” (p. 429)
• Kurda, “Bizim hayvanları güder misin?” demişler. Kurt sevincinden ağlamış: “Kuzuları da bizim çocuklar gütsün” demiş. — “They asked the wolf, ‘Will you herd our animals?’ The wolf wept with joy and said, ‘Then let our children herd the lambs too.’” (p. 472)
• Kurda “Niye boynun kalın?” diye sormuşlar. “Kendi işimi kendim görürüm de ondan” demiş. — “They asked the wolf, ‘Why is your neck so thick?’ It said, ‘Because I take care of my own business.’” (p. 472)
• Tilkiye “tavuk kebabı yer misin?” demişler. “Beni güldürmeyin” demiş. — “They asked the fox, ‘Will you eat roast chicken?’ It said, ‘Don’t make me laugh.’” (p. 608)
• Terziye “Çek git burdan” demişler. “Gümüş iğnem yakamda” demiş. — “They told the tailor, ‘Get out of here.’ He said, ‘My silver needle is still in my collar.’” (p. 604)
• Üzüme sapın niye kısa demişler. “Uzun olanı da var” demiş. — “They asked the grape, ‘Why is your stem so short?’ It said, ‘There are long ones too.’” (p. 624)
• Deveye “zanaatın nedir?” diye sormuşlar, “ipek satıcılığı” demiş. — “They asked the camel, ‘What’s your trade?’ It said, ‘Selling silk.’” (p. 238)
• Kuzguna “güzel kimdir?” diye sormuşlar. “Benim yavrularım” demiş. — “They asked the raven, ‘Who is beautiful?’ It said, ‘My own chicks.’” (p. 479)

Related Pages

• Çorum Praises, Curses, Oaths and Comparisons
• Çorum Dictionary
• Birth and Marriage Traditions in Çorum
• Çorum Village Folk Plays

Sources

• Can Yoksul, Çorum Yöresi Sözlü Kültürü (The Oral Culture of the Çorum Region), Çorum Belediyesi Kültür Yayını, Çorum 2013, ISBN 978-605-64210-0-6, pp. I, IV, VII, IX, XIII, 104, 199, 267, 285, 301, 321, 350, 358, 402, 424, 428, 429, 434, 451, 460-461, 463, 472, 479, 498-499, 525, 597, 602, 608, 624, 633. https://www.corum.bel.tr/public/uploads/2023/05/corum-yoresi.pdf

Frequently asked questions

How many sayings does the book Çorum Yöresi Sözlü Kültürü contain?

Can Yoksul's collection arranges more than 27,000 sayings alphabetically from A to Z, with roughly 1,000 footnote explanations; the book runs to 700 pages.

Do the sayings on this page cover the whole book?

No. The book contains over 27,000 sayings; this page offers only a small sample selected by theme.

Who compiled the book and when was it published?

The book was compiled by Can Yoksul and published in 2013 as a culture publication of the Çorum Municipality, edited by İbrahim Gösterir.