کور خواندی

What it says

کور خواندی (kur khândi) is one of the most satisfying push-backs in spoken Persian. The phrase pairs کور (kur, blind) with خواندی (khândi, you read, second-person singular past of خواندن). “You read it blind.” Iranians fire it across the table when someone makes a wrong assumption about them: you thought I would back down, you thought I needed your help, you thought I was bluffing. کور خواندی. You read it blind.

How to use it

• اگه فکر کردی کوتاه میام، کور خوندی (age fekr kardi kutâh miyâm, kur khundi) “If you thought I’d back off, you read it blind”
• کور خوندی اگه منتظر عذرخواهی هستی (kur khundi age montazer-e ozr-khâhi hasti) “You read it blind if you’re waiting for an apology”
• منو نشناختی، کور خوندی (man-o nashnâkhti, kur khundi) “You don’t know me, you read it blind”

The literal meaning

The verb خواندن in Persian covers both “to read” and “to call out, to recite.” To read blind is to read without seeing the page. The result, by definition, is wrong. The verb is in second-person singular past, which intensifies the directness: I am addressing you, and the verdict is already in.

The figurative meaning

The idiom is a sharp dismissal of someone’s prediction or assumption. It is not insulting in the same register as a curse, but it is confrontational. The speaker is announcing that the listener has misjudged the situation and is about to find out. Iranians use it most in negotiations, family arguments, and the kind of dramatic phone calls that show up in Persian films from the 1990s and 2000s. The line lands like a closing door. There is also a small note of pride in saying کور خوندی. The speaker is signaling that they are stronger, smarter, or more stubborn than the listener assumed. The idiom is preferred over a flat “you’re wrong” because it puts the misjudgment squarely on the listener’s perception, not the speaker’s character.

Related expressions

اشتباه کردی (eshtebâh kardi, you made a mistake) is the neutral version. کور خواندن (kur khândan) as an infinitive is sometimes used in third person: کور خوانده (kur khânde, he/she has read it blind). The cousin idiom پاتو از گلیمت درازتر کن (pâ-to az gelim-et derâz-tar nakon, “don’t stretch your leg longer than your rug”) covers similar territory: do not overestimate your position. خواب دیدی (khâb didi, “you’ve been dreaming”) is the lighter, less hostile version. هفت خوان رستم رو رد کن (haft-khân-e Rostam-o rad kon, “pass through the seven trials of Rostam”) is the dramatic dismissal that says: you are not even close to ready for this. See our roundup of Persian comebacks for more, and our piece on Iranian argumentation, where کور خوندی shows up as a signature closing line.

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab