It turns out that American salad (or “Amerikan Salatası”) is the Turkish name for a potato salad in mayonnaise that has peas, sweet corn and diced carrots in it. Now my grandma used to make great potato salad with mustard and mayo, but it was nothing like this...I started exploring what other things the Turks call “Amerikan.” Here is a short list of the results of my research:
“Amerikan kapı” (American door): a wooden door with four panels that can be painted and is usually an interior door.
“Amerikan bar” (American bar): a corner unit in your home for storing and serving alcoholic drinks.
“Amerikan bezi” (American cloth): a type of unbleached muslin.
“Amerikan servis” (American service): plastic or material placemats
Thinking about this I guess these are all items that were not historically part of Turkish culture, but things imported or copied in recent years. Maybe the first time Turks came across them could have been on a visit to America or in an American TV serial. So I guess it would be natural to give these items the adjective “Amerikan” to distinguish them from a traditional Turkish style of salad or door.
Now before I get accused of being too American-centric, here are some examples of phrases in Turkish that refer to other nationalities. Oh, and if the allusion is not too flattering, don’t blame me. Blame the Turk Dil Kurumu -- the official body that oversees the purity of the Turkish language.
“İngiliz anahtarı” (English key): a monkey wrench or spanner
“İngiliz siyaseti” (English politics): not very complimentary -- a cool, calm and cunning way of getting a job done. Interestingly the English blame the Italians for this, calling it Machiavellian tactics.
“İngiliz ipi” (English rope): a very high-quality grade of rope. This has led to a proverb in Turkish that is similar to our “If a job is worth doing it is worth doing well” -- “Asılacaksın İngiliz ipiyle asıl” (”If you are going to be hung, let it be with English rope”).
“İngiliz tuzu” (English salt): smelling salts (now that does make sense, as we also call these Epsom salts).
“Fransız kalmak” (to stay like the French): another less complimentary one I am afraid -- to not follow the conversation, or to have no knowledge of the subject being talked about.
“Alman gümüşü” (German silver): an alloy of zinc, copper and nickel.
“Alman usulü” (German-style): no, not referring to timeliness or efficiency -- this means dividing up the bill between everyone at the meal table. Funny, we call that “going Dutch,” not Deutsche.
“Hindistan mürekkebi” (Indian ink): indelible ink like that used to mark fingers of voters in the recent elections.
“Rus ruleti” (Russian roulette): same meaning -- a risky game of chance where the outcome is of life and death importance, literally.
Well I guess this way of calling things by the nationality in which they first found out about an object is not the sole prerogative of the Turks.
After all, don’t we call a low couch seat whose lid opens to reveal a storage space an “Ottoman” after the courts of the Sultan where this object was first seen by Europeans?
And that beautiful, chewy cube of flavored candy that the nation who invented it calls “lokum” is known in the English-speaking world as Turkish delight.
When the Turks introduced their “kahve” and coffeehouses to Europe in the 16th century, the hot, sweet drink was called Turkish coffee.
The steamy washhouse, bedecked in marble, we do not call a hamam, but you can find a Turkish bath in London or L.A.
Isn’t language international!
Note: Keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
