Breakdown of Pankartları asmak bir yana, tamamen çuvalladık.
asmak
to hang
tamamen
completely / fully
bir yana
let alone / aside
pankart
banner
çuvallamak
to mess up / to fail miserably
Questions & Answers about Pankartları asmak bir yana, tamamen çuvalladık.
How does the phrase asmak bir yana create the "let alone" meaning?
Bir yana literally means "to one side". When placed directly after an infinitive verb ending in -mak or -mek (like asmak), it pushes that action "to the side." It tells the listener, "Forget about hanging them—something much more extreme or opposite happened instead."
Why does pankartları have the accusative -ı ending if it's placed before an infinitive rather than a conjugated verb?
Infinitive verbs in Turkish act like mini-clauses and can still take direct objects. Since the sentence refers to specific banners ("the banners"), pankart takes the accusative suffix -ı, even though the verb receiving it (asmak) is in its dictionary form.
Çuvalladık means "we messed up," but where does this verb come from?
It comes from the noun çuval, which means "sack." Çuvallamak is a widely used colloquial verb meaning "to fail miserably," "to blow it," or "to mess up." A helpful mental image for remembering it is awkwardly dropping or ruining a task so badly that you "sack" it.
The lesson also mentions şöyle dursun. Could we use that here instead?
Absolutely. You could say Pankartları asmak şöyle dursun, tamamen çuvalladık and the meaning would be identical. Şöyle dursun literally means "let it stand like that (over there)," which serves the exact same dismissive function as putting something bir yana (to one side).
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