# Kendini bilmez.



## mercimek

Kendini bilmez.
Could you please translate this to English for me?


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## Spectre scolaire

If you don't mind, I will not only answer you, but also explain the expression for those who don't know Turkish.

Literally, it means “he doesn’t know himself”, but kendini bilmez bir adam is idiomatic and would mean something like “an impertinent (or self-conceited) man”.

The opposite, _kendini bilen bir adam_, means "a reasonable and decent person", _bilen_ being present participle of bil=, "to know", whereas _bilmez_ is the corresponding negated verb. The verbal stem alone is identical to an imperative, and a rather rude one at that.

The famous Classical Greek dictum “Know thyself”, Γνώθι σεαυτόν - ω should have an accent that I can’t produce with my present font - is translated into Turkish as _Kendini bil_! which, however, also means “Watch your manners!”... 
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## kmaro

merhaba,

_kendini bilmez_ teröristlerin faaliyetlerini sonlandırmalıyız

We must put an end to ......... terrorist activities?

sağol


Moderation Note:
The eight following posts have been a separate thread asking the same question.


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## Honour

kendini bilmez: literally *he who doesn't know himself*
in this context it is used to insult terrorists but i can't suggest an appropriate translation for it at the moment.


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## Cenay Cloud

Don't you think that a literal translation of "kendini bilmez" sounds really weird in this context ?


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## Cenay Cloud

_We must put an end to the activities of irresponsible terrorists._


Ne dersiniz ?


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## Honour

Bence sorumsuz (irresponsible) pek uygun olmamış zira sorumluluk sahibi terörist olmaz.


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## Chazzwozzer

Maybe _*presumptuous *_or _*impertinent*... _Or even *malapert*, I might say.


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## Spectre scolaire

I don't want to be ...malapert, but *I gave an answer to exactly the same question* 22nd March, cf. http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=435068
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## Cenay Cloud

To me, 

- Someone who does not know himself is a fool. 
- _Impertinent_ and _presumptuous_ convey an idea of rudeness

I believe what is crucial here is the fact that those terrorists are 
"out of their minds".

What i wanted to stress on with the adjective " irresponsible" was the fact that you could not rely on those people in the sense that they do not care about innocents.


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