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> Like the octopus, able to change the color of its body. He's too erratic or too easily persuaded. A leader, or any person, who is highly erratic, too adaptive; one who appears capable of taking any convenient or easy position. |
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> He's like the chambered nautilus whose shell is very fragile. When provoked, he gets easily irritated or angered. The Palauan believes that the chambered nautilus lives in the sea at great depth and, at the slightest touch against a rock, its shell is broken and it drifts to the surface where it dies. The saying may be applied to a poor sport, one who angers easily or who reacts badly when the victim of a prank. |
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> Like a squatting bat, hanging but looking down. Bats hang upside down from the tree and may be thought to have an inverted view of things. Refers to a comment or action that is clearly out of line; rarely said of a person who is present, since the implication is that of weak mindedness. |
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> Like a man circumcised, insufficient skin. Circumcision seems to have been known in Palau prior to contact, perhaps through contact with the Philippines, but was not widely practiced. As in this context, it usually draws attention in the form of ridicule. The idiom applies to any circumstance in which there has been insufficient preparation or planning; a premature decision. |
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> Like the terriid, in the taro garden but hungry The terriid, a bird, is often seen in the taro garden but, unlike the purple swamp hen which eats taro corms, the terriid seems to eat nothing. The idiom may apply to anyone who works hard without recognition, or to a man frequently in the company of women but with no success as a lover. |