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> Bitter and salty. The strategy of "doing things the hard way." When alternatives are available, the appropriate choice is the more difficult one. In voice, expression, and action there is a positive accent on personal ability. |
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> When the purple swamp hen appears, it brings remembrance There is a song (Oumachas) from which this saying derives: Once there was a young couple who made love in a secluded spot in the taro garden. While they were lying together a purple swamp hen darted out of the brush startling the couple. Eventually love cooled, but thereafter whenever the girl saw a purple swamp hen while she worked in the gardens, she recalled her lover. Hence any occurrence that brings back fond memories. |
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> I receive it and you ask for it? A man asks for and receives that which he needs from a second party. A third party, learning of this, asks the first party for it. Used as implied or generally about any unreasonable request |
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> Like an old woman who is cautious about coughing and breaking wind. Among elderly women, it seems, coughing sometimes produces the unwanted effect of breaking wind. The idiom may be applied to any action that might produce an undesirable side effect, such as a hasty decision at a political meeting. As a caution, it suggests the need for leaders to consider all the consequences. |
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> A full basket was dropped in Ngeremeduu bay. From the folk tale about Obak era Kedesau on his way to a feast being given in honor of his wife by her adoptive father. While crossing Ngeremeduu Bay between Ngatpang and Ngeremlengui, Obak dropped a basket of Palauan money overboard. Despite this terrible loss, he still had the courage and sufficient cash to carry off his visit in high style. The saying may be used to reassure someone, following a loss, reminding them that Obak era Kedesau recovered from an even greater loss. |
