# Persian: چپ کردن



## ali likes the stars

Hi guys,

(from a book)
اژدها آدم ها را یک لقمه چپ می کرد

What does چپ کردن here mean?


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## timboleicester

Chap kardan is to turn a car over upside down..

logmeh is bite size as far as I can tell...a mouthfull.

The dragon made a mouthfull of the people ?

Here the literal meaning is put them in his left cheek ....

But made mouthful of the people is the idea


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## Mnemon

ali likes the stars said:


> What does چپ کردن here mean?


"چپ کردن" cannot be seperated from "لقمه" in the given context. Actually it should be "لقمه ی چپ کردن" which here it means "to gobble down".
The dragon gobbled down the humans.


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## Eastern Ludicrous Writer

ali likes the stars said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> (from a book)
> اژدها آدم ها را یک لقمه چپ می کرد
> 
> What does چپ کردن here mean?


The verb is: لقمه چپ کردن literary this verb means to make it mouthful and swallow 
اژدها آدم ها را یک لقمه چپ کرد means at a glance made men a mouthful and swallowed them....


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## Mnemon

You may also find this thread helpful:
made mouthful of the people


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## PersoLatin

ali likes the stars said:


> What does چپ کردن here mean?


 We now know what لقمه چپ کردن  means but what is چپ doing here?

According to  واژه‌یاب


> لقمه چپ
> لهجه و گویش تهرانی
> لقمه چپ کردن، درشت، لقمه‌ای که با کف دست برمی‌چینند (*چپ= کف دست*) چپکی زدن= با کف دست ضربه زدن



So by cupping the hand (turning the hand over/ دست را چپ کردن) and putting it over food grabbing it and eating it,  as opposed to picking up the food by fingers, i.e. the 'right' way. (Although I don't believe چپ means کف دست, it just happens to fit in this example)


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## timboleicester

surely this is about putting the morsel/mouthful of the left side of his cheek....

chapesh kard....


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## PersoLatin

timboleicester said:


> surely this is about putting the morsel/mouthful of the left side of his cheek....
> 
> chapesh kard....


If there was no better explanation, that theory can work but what about left-handed people?


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## timboleicester

PersoLatin said:


> If there was no better explanation, that theory can work but what about left-handed people?


Are you serious? When someone looks at you "chap chap" it applies to both right-handed and left-handed people. Even right handed people can look at someone "chap chap"


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## PersoLatin

timboleicester said:


> When someone looks at you "chap chap" it applies to both right-handed and left-handed people. Even right handed people can look at someone "chap chap"


That is not a relevant example.



timboleicester said:


> Are you serious?


Yes I am, try it, using a fork or your fingers, try putting food in the left side/cheek (چپ ) of your mouth with your left hand or, in the right cheek with your right hand, it'll be awkward.


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## timboleicester

PersoLatin said:


> That is not a relevant example.
> 
> Yes I am, try it, using a fork or your fingers, try putting food in the left side/cheek (چپ ) of your mouth with your left hand or, in the right cheek with your right hand, it'll be awkward.



This is nonsense ...maybe the dragon is ambidextrous!


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## PersoLatin

Fine.


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## timboleicester

PersoLatin said:


> We now know what لقمه چپ کردن  means but what is چپ doing here?
> 
> According to  واژه‌یاب
> 
> 
> So by cupping the hand (turning the hand over/ دست را چپ کردن) and putting it over food grabbing it and eating it,  as opposed to picking up the food by fingers, i.e. the 'right' way. (Although I don't believe چپ means کف دست, it just happens to fit in this example)



Dragons don't tend to use their "hands" when eating... as they don't have any.


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## PersoLatin

This verb was not constructed to be used only for dragon stories.

My point is, چپ  in this verb doesn't refer to the left side of the mouth, as you claim and that it refers to the hand grabbing food and putting it in the mouth in an upside down fashion.

I hear what you are saying and everybody is hearing both of us, so let's leave it there.


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## ali likes the stars

Well, I asked another Iranian outside of this forum (and without telling them what was discussed here). They answered, "Usually, when putting a big chunk of food in their mouth, people tend to chew with their right cheek. Conversely, they chew small chunks with their left cheek. Therefore, لقمه ی چپ کردن means that they ate the food easily and effortlessly."
I have no idea as to the biological correctness to this claim but I think it confirms the meaning of the expression. That's enough for me, thank you all.


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## PersoLatin

ali likes the stars said:


> Well, I asked another Iranian outside of this forum (and without telling them what was discussed here). They answered, "Usually, when putting a big chunk of food in their mouth, people tend to chew with their right cheek. Conversely, they chew small chunks with their left cheek. Therefore, لقمه ی چپ کردن means that they ate the food easily and effortlessly."
> I have no idea as to the biological correctness to this claim but I think it confirms the meaning of the expression. That's enough for me, thank you all.


Before you take that answer as the final one, just consider how most babies instinctively feed themselves, they put their hand over food and grab it in their fist and then put it in their mouth, in reverse order. Of course that's a not a polite way for an adult to eat and this verb was developed for those adults that appear to do that exact thing (لقمه رو برمیدارن و چپ میکنن توی دهنشون and چپ کردن here means turning over/upside down)


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## timboleicester

PersoLatin said:


> Before you take that answer as the final one, just consider how most babies instinctively feed themselves, they put their hand over food and grab it in their fist and then put it in their mouth, in reverse order. Of course that's a not a polite way for an adult to eat and this verb was developed for those adults that appear to do that exact thing (لقمه رو برمیدارن و چپ میکنن توی دهنشون and چپ کردن here means turning over/upside down)



This is becoming surreal.    This is what my Persian friend said.

<<Chap kardan means to turn a car or kart over on itself, like upside down it means,  the dragon made a small meal bite out of the people.
But literally it means it put them in his left cheek.>>

Although I post this for the sense of the original.


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## PersoLatin

timboleicester said:


> <<Chap kardan means to turn a car or kart over on itself, like upside down it means, the dragon made a small meal bite out of the people.
> But literally it means it put them in his left cheek.>>


I have also discussed this with others and most of those who had any ideas said the same thing. It still doesn't necessarily make it right.


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## timboleicester

PersoLatin said:


> I have also discussed this with others and most of those who had any ideas said the same thing. It still doesn't necessarily make it right.


No indeed. This has been my experience of asking people anything.

Vaghtikeh nazar do nafar miporsid seta javab migirid

I made that up... did you understand?


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## ali likes the stars

PersoLatin said:


> Before you take that answer as the final one


As I am still a learner and will always be, I never take anything as the final answer. I very much enjoy the discussion here (even if it has become quite heated) and I like how you, PersoLatin, always try to dig deeper. But I really can't side with any opinion here, I'd be leaning out too far out of the window as someone who still has troubles reading children's tales.
What I can say is that my initial thought was that since چپ کردن for cars means to flip over, the dragon would literally do the same with those people, i.e. "lay them down" or "flip them" from a state of standing alive to lying down dead. In German, "umlegen" means "flipping a switch" or "turning a lever", but in the same sense also "to ace somebody", "to kill somebody". In English, there is the expression "to put down" that is used for killing for example a wolf or a dog. I felt that was similar.
What I got from all of your answers, however, is that I was wrong. I wonder. Maybe you are not so far away from the origin:


PersoLatin said:


> So by cupping the hand (turning the hand over/ دست را چپ کردن) and putting it over food grabbing it and eating it, as opposed to picking up the food by fingers, i.e. the 'right' way.


But fusing your thought with what the rest said, that لقمه ی چپ کردن has to do with the easiness of an action, maybe it can also just mean that "doing something with your left" is just an expression of "doing something with ease". There is the expression of someone being somebody else's "right hand". They say it in German, too ("Er ist meine rechte Hand.") and I think they say it in Persian, too, don't they? او دست راستم است (this may actually derive from English, but still.) So, right is the hand that does all the work.
Conversely, left is the hand that doesn't do the "hard work". In German, we also say "to do something with left" ("etwas mit Links tun"), when you want to say that you can do it without any effort whatsoever.


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## ali likes the stars

timboleicester said:


> Vaghtikeh nazar do nafar miporsid seta javab migirid
> 
> I made that up... did you understand?


Very much, yes.


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## Eastern Ludicrous Writer

ali likes the stars said:


> اژدها آدم ها را یک لقمه چپ می کرد


I want to add: in this verb لقمه چپ کردن, there is a sense of humor. So in a sentence, if you use this verb, the sentence will mixed up with humor as well.


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