mlai, n.canoe; car; automobile; transportation.
mlai
a
olidiuul
er
a
beluu
me
a
daob;
mlai
a
oltak
a
rechad
me
a
uleklool.
mlikn.poss.1s
mlimn.poss.2s
mliln.poss.3s
mlil
a
mlai
er
ngii
el
chad.
mlimamn.poss.1pe
mlidn.poss.1pi
mlimiun.poss.2p
mlirirn.poss.3p
blil a mlaiexpr.garage.
mlai er a Siabalexpr.Japanese car.
Examples:
A
Droteo
a
oumeduch
er
ngii
er
a
omeruul
el
mlai.
> Droteo pretends that he knows how to repair cars.
Ng
kmal
a
ungil
a
bangd
er
a
mlim.
> Your car gives a very smooth ride.
Ng
mla
bangk
a
taia
er
a
mlik.
> My tire's gone flat.
Ak
kileed
el
merot
er
a
mlai.
> I almost got run over by a car.
Ng
kmal
di
mle
ta
a
klungiolel
el
mlai.
> They were all canoes of equivalent quality.
Proverbs:
Ng
ko
er
a
chad
er
a
Ngerechemai,
el
metom
er
a
uel
el
metom
er
a
mlai.
> Like the man of Ngerechemai, who lost his turtle and lost his canoe.
Relates to a fisherman who jumped from his canoe to catch a turtle only to find that his canoe had drifted beyond recovery. Applies to any situation where a person fails at a task, or, aptly, to a situation where a man, through his own foolishness, loses both his wife and his mistress.
Ng
ko
er
a
omelkesel
Ngirakerisil,
el
di
diak
lecheldereder
a
mlil.
> Like Kerosene, poling his canoe with no obvious destination
Under the German administrator Winkler before World War I, a Palauan named Ngirakerisil (Mr. Kerosene) was employed as a canoe operator. Daily he would take the tireless administrator to a different part of Palau to inspect the various economic programs (largely coconut planting) instituted by the now legendary Winkler. The operator, least of all, could predict where they would be going next. The idiom is applied to any aimless person or action; indecision; a changeable person.
Lak
bo
mua
chad
er
a
Ngerchemai
el
miltom
er
a
uel
el
metom
ra
mlai.
> Don't be like the man from Ngerchemai who lost both the turtle and the canoe.
Don't bite off more than you can chew...don't be selfish.
More Examples:
Aki
kmal
ko
er
a
mle
ungil
merael
e
di
mle
kiul
kisbekl
el
metengel
er
a
dobu
er
a
mlai
el
lilengelakl
el
kmal
bekerurt.
> We were walking fine on the road until a really fast car sped by that abruptly forced us into a ditch.
A
Luke
a
silebedak
el
kmo
ng
mla
er
ngii
a
mlai
er
a
rikl.
> Luke told me there was a car outside.
Ke
meduch
el
omekall
a
mlai?
> Do you know how to drive a car?
Ngak
me
a
ochellek
a
mirruul
er
a
mlimam
er
a
daob.
> My younger brother and I were making our canoe.
Ng
mla
ngmasech
er
a
mlai
e
merael
mo
er
a
kmung
ker.
> He climbed into the car and went I don't know where.

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