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[denizaksulu]

Hi Kafenes; I am glad somebody asked. I thought may be some of the more literal TCs would explain. But here goes. The story is from my late uncle who was a great teacher. At one time he taught at the English School in Nicosia. nyway The story he related is as follows: A couple of hundred years ago a villager went to Lefkosia looking for his friend (I cannot remember why) he approached the Southern gates of the town and was asking around if anybody had seen his friend. They asked him (the villager was quite simple minded) what was his friend was like, was he tall, was he fat,this and that. The villager kept on saying "I dont know". He approached the gates and asked the guard, "have you seen my friend?" the guard says no, and asked the same questions as the other people. The villager replied ". oh I dont know". "Well you must know something about him" says the guard. The villager then says " oh yes he is Mehmet who wears yellow boots".
The expression is often used (in the good old days) to describe people who ask for something yet they havent a clue as to what they want. But an addition to the story was the fact that the most valuable part of any cypriots dress was his boots. As you know (perhaps) boots in the old days would last more than a life-time and were handed down to sons. Turks would wear all colours but GCs would wear black. There might be different versions of the story, but this is the one I know.
Thats it.
Cheers

[kafenes]

Thanks Deniz, good story. I found out the other day that the boots in the old days didn't have a left and right, they were both exactly the same so that it could be worn in rotation on both feet so to ware them both out equally.

[denizaksulu]

You might be right there, Kafenes. Opposite our house in the village there used to be a changari / Tsangari. Does it mean bootmaker? Anyway, as a kid I remember sitting next to him and watch himmaking these boots. I remember every cut with his neshteri (sort of knife) every stitch he made. It was fascinating. In the corner of his shop he had these thick hides. And these boots had so many layers of hide. I remember also his smile when he used to tap in the final studs into the soles of the boots. Apparently they used to cost a lot those days.
Now to think of it, it was a small village and we had this bootmaker who was also fluent in Turkish and two Turkish speaking shoemakers. Its amazing to find these two different artisans in one small village. Where have they all gone now? Made China I suppose.

[kafenes]

My father had a shoemakers supply shop in larnaca and would supply all the shoemakers of the surounding villages. This would be about 55-60 years ago. Do you remember the wooden 'kalabothkia'? the wooden moulds?

[denizaksulu]

Oh, yes, but I had forgotten what they were called!

[halil]

sarı çizmeli Mehmet Ağa

yellow-booted Mehmet Aga an unknown person; just anybody; a nobody
Joe Bloggs; Joe Blow; Joe Doaks, John Doe
We use this idiom, 'yellow-booted Mehmet Aga' when talking about a person that we don't really know much about (...it is not really known 'who he is', 'what he is').

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzX9Ekp_Scs

[kafenes]

Thanks halil, it's a good clip but not my style . I prefer the Baris Manco version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsGW-8t-rKQ

[denizaksulu]

Thanx Halil, another interpretation as well. There must be quite a few of such stories around. One expression I am trying to get an explanation to is " Bitsillo has lost his donkey (Bitsillo eshegini kaybetti) or "Bitsillonun eshegini kaybettigi yerde". Any clues? Anybody?