mei
/me
, v.i.come; arrive.
mei
a
a
mei
er
mei
me
ka
bev.imp.
be
a
ta
er
a
a
el
er
a
el
be
be
blev.s.hypo.
meracont.mei er a
merekung
/merkung
v.i.pred.is about to come or arrive.
mermang
/meremang
v.inch.
a
er
a
el
er
a
mlei
/mle
v.pastcame; arrived.
a
mla
mei
me
a
er
a

mle
a
er
a
a
mle
ng
mle
mleracont.mlei er a
be kbongexpr.goodbye; I'm leaving.
me e mong
/memong
expr.pass by; go on; "(in a direction) towards me and then keep going (past me)."
nguu el meiexpr.bring.
ta el buil er mla me e mongexpr.one month ago.
Examples:
> You are very fast.
> You are very stubborn.
> The day before yesterday was Saturday.
> The picture was drawn in five minutes.
> I was a bit sick yesterday.
Proverbs:
> Like the man of Kayangel, who procured his gifts from Keso
The saying refers to a man from the atoll of Kayangel, some twenty miles north of the main islands of Palau, who, on his way south to visit friends, stopped at an intermediate reef, Kesol, to fish for a present for his host. Refers to a person who, en route to a visit, tries to borrow a present from another guest; any person who suddenly wants to borrow money.
> Like Ngiramesemong, rehashing what has been finished.
Pertains to a person who repeatedly reminds another of past favors or continually recalls the mistakes of others. (My sources no longer recalled the episode or story from which this idiom derives.)
> Really a child of the back.
A child (sometimes an adult) that behaves well whether its parents are present or not; a child that is good when one's back is turned.
> Like seaweed at Kosiil, out with the tide and in with the tide.
Kosiil is a location in the lagoon where the seaweed can be seen to bend in and out with the tide. The idiom is applied to a leader who is too flexible and unreliable. In the short form (Kora char ra Kosiil) it may simply mean, "I'll go along with what you decide."
> 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.
More Examples:
> I ate cassava and Japanese noodles soup.
> Im scared of gossip. It ruins relationships.
> The mango tree at the taro swamp is covered with fruits.
> We did walk to school every day, rain or shine.
> My budget was low, I could not buy cigarettes.

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