Tim Drayton Jan 22, 2013:

There's none so blind as those who will not see. I think the above proverb is very close in meaning to the Turkish proverb you have quoted. If somebody basically understands anyway, or is 'on your wavelength', it won't take a lot of effort to get across what you want to explain (something as quiet as a mosquito will resonate loud and clear like a musical instrument); however, if they are not on your wavelength, or they are in denial about what you are trying to explain, then all the noise in the world will fall on deaf ears.

Yasin Koç Jan 21, 2013:

Anlayışı kıt --- Means somebody who is not bright and quick-witted.

This proverb refers to situations when one does not quickly understand the implications of a particular situation, joke etc. They need extra explanation in order to fully grasp it. Then why does it talk about mosquito, instruments?

Mosquito makes little noise, yet somebody with good ears would immediately hear it.

Drums -- It makes a lot of noise hence it is impossible for anybody, unless not he is not deaf of course, to hear drum.

The proverb means that a smart and quick witted person would immediately grasp the full meaning of any issue just with one single hint ("mosquito"), but those who are not smart and quick-witted needs full detailed explanation to understand it (hence, "drums"). In other words if somebody is not dumb, they would easily understand anything from a subtle hint.

Would this explanation make sense to you? I sent you an e-mail by the way. Would you check it?

Hellinas (asker) Jan 21, 2013:

Thanks, Gannush but what you referred to viz. 'Kimi zaman sözü biraz kapalı söylemek yeğlenir. Anlayışlı kimseler, ne denilmek istendiğini zaten anlarlar. Anlayışı kıt (kim?) kimseler ise ne kadar açık söylense, ne kadar tekrarlansa yine anlamazlar' is equally obscure! I understand the first bit up to yeğlenir but I don't understand most of the remainder.

Yasin Koç Jan 21, 2013:

Please see the explanation here.

http://tr.wiktionary.org/wiki/Anlayana_sivrisinek_saz,_anlam...