How about finding out the common idioms or proverbs in our languages:

To sell ice (cubes) to Eskimos: Tereciye tere satmak.

The early bird catches the warm: Erken kalkan yol alır. (This is sometimes translated into Turkish word by word by some: "Erkenci kuş solucanı kapar", especially in films as they don't know how to translate such idioms or proverbs.

Where there's smoke, there's fire: Ateş olmayan yerden duman çıkmaz

Haydan gelen huya gider = easy come, easy go
it ürür kervan yürür = dogs bark, caravan goes

They say the second one is a loan from Turkish.

Anasına bak ,kızını al=look at her mother take her doughter

denize düşen yılana sarılır
he who falls into water, graps a snake to survive.

I think this one is universal:

Haste makes waste - Acele işe şeytan karışır

söz gümüşse sükut altındır
silence is golden

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence: Komşunun tavuğu komşuya kaz görünür.

How do you say in turkish :

"All talk , no action "

is there one equivalent?
in spanish it it :
" Mucho ruido , pocas nueces"
Selamlar!
Dilara

I have a couple of E-TR requests as well

* to miss with an empty goal

* leave/set the fox to watch the geese
(in Dutch we say "to leave the cat with the milk" actually..)

1) The candle does not give light to itself (Sometimes one does not think sufficiently about his own interests and tends to help others without helping himself

2) The son inherits his fathers property, not his name (One has to make a name for himself)

any one know these two?

oh keep um coming! I love idioms, I want to know all of them in turkish. Do you have the one..... "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones"? meaning something like don't make fun of people, you have faults too?

O kedi yine marifetini göstermiş - That cat has been up to her old tricks

Turkish version for this one?

When the cat's away the mice will play

do you have in your languages expressions referring to other people?

e.g. we say in Romanian, when two people talk on different subjects and because of this they do not seem to understand one another "se inteleg ca turcii cu tatarii"= lit. they understand each other like the turks and the tartars"

Alıcı aslan, borçlu sıçan gibidir.

(lit.translation): The lender is like a lion, the borrower is like a rat.

"There's a lid for every pot" (literal from Dutch to English)
"Every Jack will find his Jill"

Turkish version anyone?

O bardaktaki biranın üstünde çok köpük var - That glass of beer´s got quite a head on it

yumuşak atın çiftesi pek olur (soft horse's kicks become hard)

sütten ağzı yanan,yoğurdu üfleyerek yer (whose mouth burnt with milk,he/she eat yogurt with blowing)

körle yatan şaşı kalkar(who sleeps with a blind,he/she wakes as cross-eyed)

heres one i was taught by a friend..i like it..
bahaneler got gibidir herkeste bir tane bulunur .an excuse is like an ar@@ everyone has one..sorry if anyone takes offence..its not meant to do that..

Honesty is the best policy.
Dürüstlük en iyi yoldur. Doğru yoldan şaşmamalı.

Truth is relative.
Doğruluk görelidir

Dilinin altındaki baklayı çıkarmak: Spill the beans

the best gifts come in smaller packages

when one door closes others open..

the gift of the gab

"Gönül kimi severse güzel odur" : "Beauty is a matter of individual taste" ,or
"Gönül bu otada konar, bokada"

the roughest diamond can shine the brightest..

beauty is only skin deep

don't judge a book by its cover

too many cooks spoil the broth

keep ur friends close and ur enemies closer

the sweetest tongue is tipped with poison

I forgot the Turkish text and I even don't know if there is a Dutch similar one, but the most nice Turkish proverb I ever read is: Don't say with your mouth what your heart doesn't say.

Anyone who knows the translation?

I have some for you

Aç tavuk kendini buğday ambarında sanır.
The hungry chicken thinks that it is in a wheat storehouse.

Davulun sesi uzaktan hoş gelir.
The sound of drum sounds nicely from far away.

Dost başa,düşman ayağa bakar.
Friend looks at head,foe looks at foot.

Irmaktan geçerken at değiştirilmez.
While crossing the river,horse is not exchanged.

İt iti ısırmaz.
Dog doesn't bite dog.

Akıllı,köprüyü buluncaya dek deli,suyu geçer.
Insane crosses the water untill wise finds the bridge.

everyday is holiday/ festival for MAD ones

I don't know if this one has been quoted before but this is an English translation of a common Scottish proverb:- There is many a good tune played on an old violin.

'Dont walk with more than one person on this bridge', one scared man reads. He looks around and walks over the bridge but still the wooden bridge breaks down and the man ends up in the cold, deep water.. Bu nasıl oldu?

Een gewaarschuwd mens telt voor twee.
One warned man counts as two.

two heads are better than one

sometimes less is more

don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Tarih tekerrürden ibarettir - History repeats itself

or

We learn from history that we do not learn anything from history.

if you want to know a person look at those who surround them

a crime is only a crime if you get caught

it takes one to know one

Gezen tilki oturan aslandan iyidir: A strolling fox is better than a lying lion. (I think the lying lion all day long must be a he lion.)

We have an expression we use when someone starts showing strange behaviour (being irritated without any reason for example):

"It must be the leaves falling" or "It must be the leaves sprouting".

(and when that person shows that kind of behaviour in winter or in summer there must be another reason )

I have just come across a Chineese proverb:

"for a soul craving for pleasures, happiness is not possible yet, whereas for a happy soul, pleasures are no longer necessary"