dui, n.title (for village chief or family head).
dui
a
a
a
a
er
a
a
kuk
a
oba
diakn.poss.1s
diamn.poss.2s
dialn.poss.3s
a
dui
el
a
er
ng
el
a
dimamn.poss.1pe
diadn.poss.1pi
dimiun.poss.2p
dirirn.poss.3p
meluchel er a duiexpr.hold title.
Examples:
> The attorneys will attempt at a settlement to avoid trial.
> No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
> If you don't like it, then don't tell me to do it.
> The rain isn't stopping.
> Droteo doesn't have anything to do with this matter.
Proverbs:
> Title pride.
A title (dui, also "coconut leaf," which is sometimes used as the receptacle for a title pending the selection of a successor) is to be worn in humility, but a person who has just received a new title may sometimes be oppressively haughty or prideful.
> You're like a floating log without a resting place.
You have no fixed abode.
> Without looking afield, it was cut down behind the house.
From the folk tale concerning Mesubed Dingal, the inventor of the Palauan kite (see also No. 73). After his wife had been kidnapped, he constructed a kite using feathers from all the birds of Palau and he needed also wood from an Edebsungel tree to fashion the body of the bird-kite. After looking all over Palau and being on the point of giving up, he found the tree he needed behind his own house. The saying may be applied to anyone who does things the hard way, or who goes far afield to find something which is close at hand.
> It's like the foam of the sea, which forms unexpectedly and then disappears.
It's a matter that comes up for lengthy discussions and then is dropped without resolution or effect. Some things, like sea foam, drift on without settlement. Endless discussion without reaching agreement.
> Water is without cost.
Palauans bathe frequently; many will not miss a daily bath if at all possible. Bathing places are usually widened areas, natural or artificial (some elaborately paved with stone) in fresh-water streams. The phrase simply reminds another, probably a reluctant child, that he should bathe.
More Examples:
> Control yourself, it isn't war!
> I'm not cold.
> We like it quick and easy money making schemes without thinking for the future.
> I'm not thirsty.
> You're like the jellyfish that do not have a destination.
suebek, v.i.fly (out from).
a
a
ng
ng
mesebesebek
/mesesebesebek
v.i.redup.fly around aimlessly; float in the wind.
a
a
sobekangv.i.inch.is starting to fly.
a
a
sobekungv.i.pred.is about to fly.
a
a
bekesbesebek a rengulexpr.easily worried; worrisome.
suebek a rengulexpr.worried; anxious.
suebek el charmexpr.bird.
suebek el dialexpr.airplane.
See also: , ,
Examples:
> We sort of became a little bit worried.
> Ulang weighs so little that she can be blown away by the wind.
> I am so worried that I cannot speak.
> I am worried.
> I would fly away and find rest.
Proverbs:
> You're like the stork which flies with its legs dangling.
You leave unfinished business behind and split.
> 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.
> Like the purple swamp hen, flying off with its legs hanging down
The purple swamp hen (uek; other sources name another bird, sechou [heron]) is careless about its legs when it flies, letting them dangle in flight instead of neatly tucking them up like other, more trim flyers. The saying applies to persons who do sloppy work or carelessly leave a task half finished
> You're a flying kite, but i hold the guide string.
No matter how much you play around, you always come back to me.
> Like a pigeon-seeing the danger, yet it flies from cover
The pigeon sits quietly concealed until some threat appears, then it flies out, revealing itself. The idiom applies to a person who unnecessarily exposes himself to danger, leaves the house in the rain, or takes a boat out in a storm.
More Examples:
> I was close to worrying everyone as I was a little late.

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