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> 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. |
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> 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. |
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> Like the insects which stays at ashes of fire but doesn't burn. You're near a situation which needs immediate attention but you don't lend a hand. |
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> You're like a floating log without a resting place. You have no fixed abode. |
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> Like the Bilimbi tree which, if not shaken, will not bear fruit. Applied to a person who does not fulfill their obligations without constant prodding or nagging. |
