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Turkish · The Basics

Aman!

ah-MAHN · /aˈman/

Oh come on / whatever / good grief

1/5 Grandma-safe

mild, playful; fine on daytime TV

Literally

"Mercy / for pity's sake"

Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.

How to use it

A pocket knife of a word. "Aman aman" is weary dismissal ("whatever, forget it"); "aman Allah'ım" is alarm ("oh my God"); "aman ha!" is a warning ("don't you dare"). Wholly clean, but flavors your speech instantly. The doubled dismissive "aman aman" with a hand-wave is peak eye-roll.

Heard in the wild

Küstü mü? Aman, küssün.

Is he sulking? Whatever, let him.

Where it lands

Turkey-wide; universal

Quick answers

What does "Aman!" mean?
In Turkish, "Aman!" means "Oh come on / whatever / good grief". Literally it's "Mercy / for pity's sake". A pocket knife of a word. "Aman aman" is weary dismissal ("whatever, forget it"); "aman Allah'ım" is alarm ("oh my God"); "aman ha!" is a warning ("don't you dare"). Wholly clean, but flavors your speech instantly. The doubled dismissive "aman aman" with a hand-wave is peak eye-roll.
Is "Aman!" offensive?
It's on the mild end — 1/5 (Grandma-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. mild, playful; fine on daytime TV.
How do you pronounce "Aman!"?
Say it "ah-MAHN" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: aˈman.

Related in Turkish

Lan LAHN Man / dude / hey — a rough vocative that dials the whole sentence up or down Ya YAH Come on / seriously / ugh — a softener-slash-intensifier tacked on for feeling Hadi be! hah-DEE BEH Get outta here! / No way! / Yeah right! Ayıp! ah-YUHP Shame on you! / That's not on! Of ya! OFF YAH Ugh! / For crying out loud! Tüh! TEW Darn! / Shoot! / Dang it!

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Calm down".

how to say "Calm down" →

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