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 stubborn.
> 20 fish were speared in the head by the skillful fisherman.
> The tide reaches as high as my knees.
> The picture is really sloppily drawn.
> The day before yesterday was Saturday.
Proverbs:
> Like an old woman who is cautious about coughing and breaking wind.
Among elderly women, it seems, coughing sometimes produces the unwanted effect of breaking wind. The idiom may be applied to any action that might produce an undesirable side effect, such as a hasty decision at a political meeting. As a caution, it suggests the need for leaders to consider all the consequences.
> A full basket was dropped in Ngeremeduu bay.
From the folk tale about Obak era Kedesau on his way to a feast being given in honor of his wife by her adoptive father. While crossing Ngeremeduu Bay between Ngatpang and Ngeremlengui, Obak dropped a basket of Palauan money overboard. Despite this terrible loss, he still had the courage and sufficient cash to carry off his visit in high style. The saying may be used to reassure someone, following a loss, reminding them that Obak era Kedesau recovered from an even greater loss.
> If it is my lunch it can be divided, if it is yours then it cannot
Two men habitually trapped fish in the same region of the lagoon. One would occasionally ask the other to join him at lunch, the other would always refuse. One day the man who refused arrived with no lunch. When the usual invitation was extended the man refused, saying that, anyway, he had no lunch. The invitation was insistently pressed until the reluctant one gave in. As they split the taro between them the one who shared made the above statement. The idiom is a mild rebuke of a retentive person
> 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.)
> When the purple swamp hen appears, it brings remembrance
There is a song (Oumachas) from which this saying derives: Once there was a young couple who made love in a secluded spot in the taro garden. While they were lying together a purple swamp hen darted out of the brush startling the couple. Eventually love cooled, but thereafter whenever the girl saw a purple swamp hen while she worked in the gardens, she recalled her lover. Hence any occurrence that brings back fond memories.
More Examples:
> This girl complains too much.
>
> You all take turns bailing the boat so that it will be finished quickly.
> Go wash the sardines real good so we can fry some and have some for sashimi.
> Yes, it's been raining since morning.

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