| be | v.imp. |
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| ble | v.s.hypo. | |
| mera | cont. | mei er a |
merekung
/merkung | v.i.pred. | is about to come or arrive. |
mermang
/meremang | v.inch. |
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mlei
/mle | v.past | came; arrived.
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| mlera | cont. | mlei er a |
| be kbong | expr. | 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 mei | expr. | bring. |
| ta el buil er mla me e mong | expr. | one month ago. |
Examples: |
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> My car is really getting old and is making rattling noises. |
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> I've gone to all this trouble to come and get you, and (now) you don't want (to go). |
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> He was very rich. |
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> I was sent for. |
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> No one is to come here./No trespassing. |
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Proverbs: |
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> The heart and assessment. This might better be translated, "Assessment with knowledge." The mind or head is thought to be the locus of knowledge in Palau, but such knowledge is made useful or is measured with the heart (reng). Chodab, in this context, would appear to mean "to take stock of" or "to measure." In essence, then, the phrase cautions one who seems on the point of making a rash decision to temper his thoughts with his heart. |
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> It's like the rat of Ngerard, which eats up all your coconuts and (then) all of ours. It's a decision, plan etc. that will backfire. A pet rat owned by Mad, chief of Ngaraard, ate the coconuts of most of the chief's neighbors, then, still hungry, ate the chief's own coconuts. |
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> 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." |
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> Like his father, for he ate his father's premasticated food. Applied to a child by adoption, with the implication that the adopted child resembles his adoptive father |
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> I build it and you destroy it? May be applied to a person who feels his aims or projects are being destroyed by the actions of another. |
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More Examples: |
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> Yes, they have blue, white, and red. |
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> That guy is so darn good when he does jitterbug. |
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> Cold/flu is spreading. |
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> So what if he is late, as long as he comes. |
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> Come inside. |
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