|
> You're like the bisech plant in the backyard which has no purpose. A person who isn't trusted so he/she is not needed. |
|
> You're just like a cat washing yourself. i.e., you have to do everything yourself because your relatives are neglecting their obligations to you. |
|
> He's like the sea urchins between Ngiwal and Melekeok, on the ocean floor with its cover. The sea urchin can be seen lying quietly on the lagoon floor, occasionally with a leaf like a hat covering its head. Applied to a man who acquires a wife or great wealth without working for it. |
|
> He's like Ngerechebal Island, which is neither closer to Imeliik nor closer to Ngerekebesang. i.e. He's indecisive or not clearly taking sides. A person who is "on the fence," changeable and indecisive. The saying may also be applied to a partly westernized Palauan. |
|
> Like coconut syrup. A general reference to incestuous relations. That this is a recent idiom, probably first used during the period of Japanese administration, is suggested by the Japanese word "ameyu," used in Palau to mean coconut syrup. The incident from which the idiom derives is said to be one in which a Palauan coconut-syrup maker had relations with his wife's sister. |