düşe kalka

Turkish[edit]

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish دوشه قالقه (düşe ḳalḳa),^[1] from دوشمك (düşmek) and قالقمق (ḳalḳmaḳ),^[2]^[3] equivalent to düş- (“to fall”) +‎ -e (adverbial suffix) +‎ kalk- (“to get up”) +‎ -a (adverbial suffix), literally “by falling and getting up”.

(idiomatic) with difficulty, by fits and starts, fitfully
Synonyms: güçlükle, zorlukla, öle dirile, zar zor, bata çıka
(idiomatic, usually negative connotations) by hanging out frequently, as one spends a lot of time with (someone)
- 2023 March 21, Feyza YÖNDEM, HAYATINIZIN KALİTESİNİ, HAYATINIZDAKİ İNSANLARIN KALİTESİ BELİRLER‎^[1], Zonguldak: Karadeniz Son Havadis:
  Karamsar tiplerle düşe kalka bir bakmışsınız ki sizde hayata karamsarlık penceresinden bakıyorsunuz.
  As you frequently hang out with pessimistic types, before you know it, you, too, are looking at life through the window of pessimism.

^ Şemseddin Sâmi (1899–1901) “دوشه قالقه”, in قاموس تركی [kamus-ı türki] (in Ottoman Turkish), Constantinople: İkdam Matbaası, page 628
^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “düş-”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “kalk-”, in Nişanyan Sözlük