Turkish · Joy & Praise
Adamsın!
ah-dahm-SUHN · /adamˈsɯn/
You're a real one / you're the man / good on you
1/5 Grandma-safe
mild, playful; fine on daytime TV
Literally
"You are a man"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
High praise for coming through — "adam" here means a stand-up, reliable person, not literally male (you can say it to a woman, though "kadın gibi kadın" plays the same note the other way). "Adam gibi adam" is the highest form: a proper, decent human. Warm, safe, deeply Turkish in its values.
Heard in the wild
Borcumu unutmamışsın, adamsın!
You remembered what I owed — you're a real one!
Where it lands
Turkey-wide; universal
Quick answers
- What does "Adamsın!" mean?
- In Turkish, "Adamsın!" means "You're a real one / you're the man / good on you". Literally it's "You are a man". High praise for coming through — "adam" here means a stand-up, reliable person, not literally male (you can say it to a woman, though "kadın gibi kadın" plays the same note the other way). "Adam gibi adam" is the highest form: a proper, decent human. Warm, safe, deeply Turkish in its values.
- Is "Adamsın!" 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 "Adamsın!"?
- Say it "ah-dahm-SUHN" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: adamˈsɯn.
Related in Turkish
Vay anasını! VY ah-nah-suh-NUH Holy cow! / Well I'll be damned! Vay be! VY BEH Wow / damn / would you look at that Helal olsun! heh-LAHL ol-SOON Good on you! / Respect! / You earned it! Aferin! ah-feh-REEN Well done! / Good job! / Attaboy! Kral! KRAHL You're the man! / Legend! / Boss! Efsane! ef-sah-NEH Legendary! / Awesome! / Epic!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Hell yes".
- French Ça déchire ! That rocks! / That's awesome!
- German Geil! Awesome! / Sick! / Hell yes!
- Greek ώπα Oops! / Hey, watch it! / Let's go! — NOT mainly the plate-smashing tourist cheer.
- Italian Grande! Nice one! / You legend! / Way to go!
- Japanese やった Yes! / I did it! / We won!
- Korean 아싸! Yes! / score! — the fist-pump syllables.
- Polish zajebisty Fucking awesome / badass — the great slang-POSITIVE of the jebać family.
- Portuguese Que massa! How cool! / Awesome!
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.