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> He's like Chelebesoi of Ngeriil, dead in a fishtrap not his own. A man named Chelebesoi (also the name of a fish) was robbing another man's fish trap when a head-hunting party came by and removed his head. He lost both his head and his reputation. The idiom may apply to one who gets hurt while trying to do someone else's job. |
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> Like the kingfisher, chattering while taking to wing. The kingfisher, a restless, bullying bluebird, may be heard to chatter loudly when flying up from the ground or from a perch. The saying applies to one who suddenly spouts instructions to a group, then leaves, or to a leader at a meeting who impatiently interrupts a discussion with a burst of pronouncements, then ends the meeting. |
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> You're getting involved with someone too closely related. Possibly derived from an incident in which a coconut syrup maker was incestuously involved with his wife's sister. |
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> It's like the birth of a rat with one offspring per mother. It's something that happens just once, something I put up with only once. According to this saying, the rat bears but one litter. Hence the application "once is enough" about an act that bears no repeating. |
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> Like lightning, a big, unnecessary noise. Lightning rarely strikes in such a way as to cause serious damage in Palau. May be applied to any unnecessary fuss or oratory at a meeting. |
