mlai, n.canoe; car; automobile; transportation.
a
er
a
me
a
a
a
me
a
mlikn.poss.1s
mlimn.poss.2s
mliln.poss.3s
a
er
el
mlimamn.poss.1pe
mlidn.poss.1pi
mlimiun.poss.2p
mlirirn.poss.3p
blil a mlaiexpr.garage.
mlai er a Siabalexpr.Japanese car.
Examples:
> My tire's gone flat.
> If I had money, (then) I'd buy a new car.
> The car hit the telephone pole.
> Your car gives a very smooth ride.
> Did Joseph drive his car anywhere?
Proverbs:
> 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.
> 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.
> 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.
More Examples:
> Do you know how to drive a car?
> My neighbor borrowed my car and drove it into a mango tree.
> I'm smirking at the people working for the government, do they think they own these government vehicles when they're behind the wheels.
> My friend's friend got hit by a car. She is so lucky she didn't die.
> Luke told me there was a car outside.

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