İğneyle kuyu kazmak
Meaning: To undertake a painfully slow, laborious task.
Language: Turkish
Literally: To dig a well with a needle
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The near-impossible patience of excavating a whole well using nothing but a needle.
Equivalents in other languages
- Urdu: لوہے کے چنے چبانا (lohe ke chane chabana) — literally: To chew chickpeas of iron
More idioms — Daily Life
- حبل الكذب قصير (ḥabl al-kadhib qaṣīr) — Lies never last; they are soon exposed.
- نوشدارو بعد از مرگ سهراب (Nushdaroo ba'd az marg-e Sohraab) — A solution that arrives uselessly too late.
- קופצים על המציאה (Kofsim al hamtsi'a) — To seize a great opportunity at once.
- תפסת מרובה לא תפסת (Tafasta merubah lo tafasta) — Overreach for too much and you end up with nothing.
- Розбити глек (Rozbýty hlek) — To fall out and ruin a friendship.
- Ăn cơm nhà vác tù và hàng tổng — To do thankless public work at your own expense.
More Turkish idioms
- Havadan sudan konuşmak — To make idle small talk.
- Pireyi deve yapmak — To blow something tiny out of all proportion.
- Armudun sapı var, üzümün çöpü var — To find fault with absolutely everything.
- Pabuç pahalı — Things are getting dangerous; time to be careful.
- İki ayağını bir pabuca sokmak — To rush and pressure someone relentlessly.
- Ayıkla pirincin taşını — Deal with it yourself; it's your mess.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu as la tête sur les épaules — You're grounded, sensible, and dependable — not easily swept off course.
- Tu as le vent en poupe — Everything is going your way — you're riding a wave of momentum and success.
- Tu es un as — You're brilliant at what you do — the very best.