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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.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • الحبل على الكذب قصير — Lies never last; they are soon exposed.
  • نوشدارو بعد از مرگ سهراب — A solution that arrives uselessly too late.
  • קופצים על המציאה — To seize a great opportunity at once.
  • תפסת מרובה לא תפסת — Overreach for too much and you end up with nothing.
  • Розбити глек — 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.

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