Deyimler, bir toplumun kültürel, tarihsel, sosyolojik ve felsefi açıdan tüm hassasiyetlerini ve birikimlerini ihtiva eden söz kalıplarıdır. Toplumların dil hazinelerini tesis eden en mühim unsurlardır. Muhtevalarında oldukça derin mecazi manaların mevcut olduğunu söylemek mümkündür. Bir bakıma toplumların hayata bakışlarını, sevinçlerini ve hüzünlerini, karakteristik yapılarını kısmen de olsa bir ayna hükmünde yansıtırlar. Atasözleri de benzer vasıflara sahip olması hasebiyle çok defa deyimler ile karıştırılabilmiş, kesin çizgiler ve tespitlerle ayırt edilememiştir. Araştırmacılar da bu noktada çok net tanımlamalar yapmak ve tâbirler kullanmaktan çekinmişlerdir. Aynı şekilde Osmanlı devrinde de bu alanla alakalı olarak kaleme alınan eserlerde deyimlerin ve atasözlerinin bir arada kullanıldığı görülebilmektedir. Dolayısıyla iç içe geçmiş atasözlerini ve deyimleri birbirinden ayırt edebilmek oldukça güç bir hâl alabilmektedir. Zaten müelliflerin de eserlerinde kesin bir dille bunlar atasözü veya şunlar deyimdir şeklinde bir tasnifleme yapmadıkları görülmektedir. Osmanlı döneminde de deyimler ve atasözlerini bir araya getiren eserler kaleme alınmıştır. Bu eserlere Durûb-ı Emsâl, Durûb-ı Emsâl-i Osmâniyye, Manzûme-i Emsâl gibi isimler verilmiştir. Kaleme alınmış olan bu tip eserlerin birçoğunda da hem atasözleri hem de deyimler bir arada görülebilmektedir. Bu çalışmada Osmanlı döneminde kaleme alınmış; ancak günümüzde neredeyse unutulmaya yüz tutmuş ya da hiç kullanılmayan beş deyimin eldeki mevcut misallerle izahı yapılmaya çalışılmıştır.

Idioms are groups of words that include all sensitivities and experience of a society from cultural, historical, sociological, and philosophical perspectives. They are the most important elements in the language treasures of the communities. It is possible to say that there are quite deep metaphorical meanings in their contents. In a sense, they reflect, though partially, communities’ outlooks on life, their joys and sadnesses and their characteristic structures in the form of a mirror. Proverbs also have similar characteristics and, therefore, they were frequently confused with idioms, and could not be distinguished with precise lines and determinations. Researchers have also refrained themselves from making very clear and using terms at this point. Similarly, idioms and proverbs were seen to be used together in the works penned in the related field during the Ottoman era. Therefore, it is quite impossible to distinguish proverbs and idioms that were intertwined together. There was also no precise classification in the worlds of the author in the manner of these are proverbs or others are idioms. The works that brought idioms and proverbs were also written during the Ottoman period. These works were given titles such as Durûb-ı Emsâl, Durûb-ı Emsâl-i Osmâniyye and Manzûme-i Emsâl. Both proverbs and idioms were seen to be together in many of these types of works. The explanation of five idioms, written during the Ottoman period, but almost forgotten or never used today, were attempted to be made with current examples in this study. The primary forms of verse used in Old Turkish Literature are ode, eulogy, mathnawi, rubaie, song and cantos. In addition to these, the works that are called “Durûb-ı Emsâl” and consist of proverbs and idioms are also available. All of the idioms in this study had been identified in Ali Emiri Efendi’s work called Durûb-ı Emsâl-i Osmâniyye consisting of proverbs and idioms. These works, entitled as Durûb-ı Emsâl, are made up of proverbs and idioms. This work of Ali Emiri, written in Ottoman Turkish, consists of 161 sheets. It is registered in three volumes at Ali Emiri Literary Works Section of Istanbul National Library in the numbers 282,283 and 284. The first volume consists of 54 leaves. The accounting records of 27 pages are available from Leaf 41b. A leaf in this section where the accounting records were found was left blank. Created in the order of Arab alphabet, this volume includes letters of ‘alif, ba, p and t’ according to the vowel points they received. There is not any record of the volume’s date of compilation. The second volume is 60 leaves. According to Arabic alphabet, all letters between these two letters including letters ‘jim’ and ‘kaf’ are arranged in accordance to the vowel points they receive. The third volume is 61 leaves. There is an ordering in this volume beginning with the letter ‘kaf’ leading up to ‘ye’ which is the last letter of Arabic alphabet. The ordering was carried out in accordance with the vowel points letters received just like in other volumes. This is the only available copy of the work. There is no another copy of the work available at libraries. It was written with a font called rik’a. There are two-thousand four hundred forty two proverbs and idioms and approximately one thousand two hundred verses (a verse form consisting of two lines) in the work. Some of proverbs and idioms are Arabic and Persian. Some of the idioms available in the work are as follows: Ağzı gümüşlü (Silvery mouthed), Ahfeş’in keçisi (Ahfes’s goat), ayağı düze bas (business is thriving)-, ayıya kaval çaldır (trying to tell something to an inconsiderate person)-, mum ile oku (extending invitation to someone)-, başında değirmen taşı dön (consistently rubbing someone’s nose in it)-, delilere zincir vur (not letting heart fall in love with a fairy)-, hora geç (be appreciated)-, köy göçtü (everyone left), ocağına su koy (destroy someone’s family)-, okunu at (throw your arrow)-, ölüsü di