# Aci



## xebonyx

When I went to Istanbul earlier this year, I remember a few guys I walked passed who were grinning and said "aci? (aji)" to me. Now, I could have misheard, but is this a word with any actual meaning? By the way, I'm Black, so I'm not sure if it was race related. I know that sometimes biracial/mixed/darker persons are called "Arab" (please correct me if I'm wrong)...

Teşekkürler!


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## shafaq

I couldn't remember easily any suitable word regarding your exposition other than *hacı *which may be pronounced some times as "haji" and probably you heard it as "aji".
If this was the case, it means "pilgrim" with its true pronounciation as "hadg*I*" or "haj*I*". The letter *I* which I boldfaced it, is pronounced as *e* at the and of say "teach*e*r" or "clean*e*r" in Turkish. Peoples especially, young ones use it some times to address close friends to stand for "Hey !" or "Look !" as well as mostly used to address real pilgrims as a title  like "Mr." in English i.e. Hacı Ahmet ...
Also I heard that some people address Arab (even black) tourists using this word like "Naaber haji?" to stand for "How are you Mr.?" or "Merhaba haji !" to mean "Hi haji!". I said *even black people* because most of Turkish people assumes that all blacks are Arab and all Arabs are pilgrims="haji"; due to the fact that pilgrimage is earned by visiting Holy Ka'bah which does exist in (Saudi) Arabia.
.
There is an other word evoked in mind by your exposition which it is "acı" pronounced as aj*I*" ( *I*  as I explaned above) but it has nothing in this context and only means *hot *(for somethings like pepper and onion), bitter (for some foods like coffe and chokolate) in taste; as well as  ache, pain, sorrow, and finally tragic, pitiful, hurtful, harsh for feelings.
None of them bears any negative sense.


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## macrotis

It's most likely *hacı*. It means *pilgrim*, but it's not used nowadays in this sense in the everyday language (if the person isn't actually a pilgrim), especially after the TV series _Avrupa Yakası_, in which a character by the name Burhan used it frequently to call anybody meaning "man! pal!"

Moreover, in Turkish comedy culture, it's usual to call an Arab character as _Ya haci_ (o pilgrim, but with i, not ı)! and they call each other that when they're talking among themselves. In common people's mind (my mother, for one) all black people are Arabs. Funny, but that's the way it is. (This perception has nothing to do with racism, it's only color, that is, black = Arab, nothing more.)


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## xebonyx

Thanks so much to you both for your informative comments! 
It's also interesting to learn how Black people are perceived...I might start a separate thread about it.


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## unutamabeni

although I share the idea that they might have said Hacı, another option I think of is "bacı"  It means sister. 

I can't see your gender, are you a woman? as a woman I know that men love to say whatever comes to their mind as a woman passes by, foreigners are a popular "target" and they also enjoy saying things that they think you won't understand. actually they wouldn't hesitate to call you bacı if they found something feminine in you even if you're a male, or if you're gay or they think so... Is this a word you heard from various people at different times and places, or just told by a single group at one instance? 
Nice thread, by the way


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## xebonyx

unutamabeni said:


> although I share the idea that they might have said Hacı, another option I think of is "bacı"  It means sister.
> 
> I can't see your gender, are you a woman? Is this a word you heard from various people at different times and places, or just told by a single group at one instance?
> Nice thread, by the way



Thanks  
I'm a woman, and I heard it from a single group at one instance.


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## xebonyx

unutamabeni said:


> another option I think of is "_*bacı*_"  *It means sister. *



Hmmm...a recent meeting I had with a Turkish professor at my college who has lived here for equally as long as Turkey, made me resurrect this thread. Are you sure about the meaning of this word? 

"Bacı", from what I understand, has been used to describe what could be equivalent of the American "Mammy" caricature or the "Amos & Andy" types of figures from the old days of making jest of black servitude and ignorance through stereotypes. Of course this relevant point in history does not exist in Turkish culture, but apparently there is a similar cultivated attitude that's around today (widespread or not).


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## namik80

xebonyx said:


> Hmmm...a recent meeting I had with a Turkish professor at my college who has lived here for equally as long as Turkey, made me resurrect this thread. Are you sure about the meaning of this word?



"Bacı" is exactly meaning of "sister". 

Before 1950's; "bacı" (also "kalfa") used for "old servants" in mansions (in this case; old = age & years long service). Because; an old servant is became a family member (like a sister).


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## xebonyx

namik80 said:


> Before 1950's; "bacı" (also "kalfa") used for "old servants" in mansions (in this case; old = age & years long service). Because; an old servant is became a family member (like a sister).



Yardımın için teşekkürler!


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## namik80

xebonyx said:


> Yardımcın için teşekkürler!



Yardımın için teşekkürler (thanks for your help)
Yardımcın için teşekkürler (thanks for your assistant) 

فنحن نرحب بك


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