What it means
کش آمدن (kesh âmadan) means to stretch or to become elongated. It describes what an elastic or pliable material does when pulled: chewing gum, dough, rubber, or a garment that has lost its shape. It is built from کش (kesh, “pull” or “elastic”), a pure Persian element also found in کشیدن (keshidan, “to pull”), and آمدن (âmadan, “to come”). Colloquially کش آمدن is also used for time or an event that drags on longer than expected, such as a meeting that will not end. For the full-body stretch a person does after waking, Persian speakers use کش و قوس (kesh-o-ghus), not کش آمدن.
How to use it
- آدامس کش اومد. (âdâms kesh umad.) “The chewing gum stretched.”
- این لباس بعد از چند بار شستن کش اومده. (in lebâs bad az chand bâr šostan kesh umade.) “This garment has stretched out after a few washes.”
- جلسه خیلی کش اومد. (jalase xeyli kesh umad.) “The meeting dragged on for a long time.”
- خمیر رو که کشیدم، کش اومد. (xamir ro ke kešidam, kesh umad.) “When I pulled the dough, it stretched.”
Cultural note
The image behind کش آمدن is کش, the stretchy elastic band, so the verb naturally covers anything that gives and elongates under tension. The figurative use for time is vivid in everyday speech: Iranians complain that a tedious lecture or a long bureaucratic wait کش اومده, capturing the feeling of minutes stretching like elastic. The phrase is firmly colloquial and spoken-register.