Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary

The halfbeak, a small fish (bolobel), is regarded as one who follows his fancy or heart, doing as he pleases. The idiom is applied to persons who are easy-going, sleeping when the mood calls for it, undisturbed by the behavior or opinion of others.

Ng

ko

er

a

bekerurt

el

chebis

el

di

ruebet

e

melalem.

> He's like a good (lit. fast) top that steadies itself soon after touching the ground.

i.e. he understands or learns quickly. In Palau the top is spun in the air and dropped to the ground where it usually wobbles for a spell before it becomes "planted" or stable. The better the top, the less the wobble. A statement that is right to the point, or a decisive and good decision, is like a good top. The idiom may be applied to a person who is quick to get the point or learn a new skill.

Kom

ko

er

a

mekebud

el

betok

e

di

telechem.

> You're like sardines, very many but only enough for one wrapped piece of fish.

Fish are properly wrapped individually in a leaf for cooking, but sardines are so small that a bunch of them may be wrapped together to make up only one small bundle. The idiom may be applied to a numerous but weak enemy or to a clan that is large but ineffective as in raising money for its members, or for a large group of workers who do not accomplish very much.

Ng

kora

chebiei

el

Cheangel,

el

di

ta

e

chutur

a

ta

el

suk.

> Like the breadfruit of Kayangel, just one rotten piece will spoil the whole bunch.

One bad person can ruin the reputation of a whole group. It is said of the Chebiei variety of breadfruit found at Kayangel atoll that one rotten one will spoil others packaged with it. Similar to "One bad apple spoiled the bushel."

More Examples:

Aki

kmal

ko

er

a

mle

ungil

merael

e

di

mle

kiul

kisbekl

el

metengel

er

a

dobu

er

a

mlai

el

lilengelakl

el

kmal

bekerurt.

> We were walking fine on the road until a really fast car sped by that abruptly forced us into a ditch.

Ng

di

ta

el

sandei

el

kngar

er

a

Belau.

> I'll be in Palau for only one week

Aika

chemais

a

kmal

di

milengemais

er

a

kesus;

kele

lengar

ngii

a

secher.

> The crickets were really chirping last night; maybe someone is sick or died.

Ng

diak

lebo

lechull.

Ng

di

kebodel

a

eanged.

> It won't rain. It's just cloudy today.

Ng

mera

el

belbelsuchel

a

Lukes

el

di

kiei

e

kuimd

a

cheiul

me

ng

ko

er

a

belbelsuchel!

> Lukes looks really weird because she is just cutting her hair and it's all messed up.

medengei

, v.s.t.

know (person or thing); understand; memorize.

medengei

a

ngar

er

ngii

a

klaodengei

er

ngii;

medengelii

a

tekoi.

mei
/me

, v.i.

come; arrive.

mei

a

okedongel

a

chad;

mei

er

tiei,

mei

me

kulekoi,

ka

mei.

be

v.imp.

be

a

ta

er

a

telengtengil

a

tekoi

el

mengai

er

a

tekoi

el

mei;

be

bong,

be

metengel.

ble

v.s.hypo.

mera

cont.

mei er a

merekung
/merkung

v.i.pred.

is about to come or arrive.

mermang
/meremang

v.inch.

meremang

a

merael

mei;

ngar

er

a

omerolel

el

mei;

dumiang

er

a

dmuil.

mlei
/mle

v.past

came; arrived.

mlei

a

mla

mei

me

ngar

tiang;

skoki

a

mlei

er

a

tutau.

mle

a

melekoi

er

a

rrekui;

Bung

a

mle

tmuu;

ng

mle

mekerang?

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:

A

siasing

a

mle

lluches

er

a

chelsel

a

eim

el

bung.

> The picture was drawn in five minutes.

Tia

el

skuul

a

mle

sment

a

ulolel.

> This school had a cement floor.

A

Toki

a

metord

er

a

bechil

me

ng

kie

er

a

blil

a

demal.

> Toki is fed up with her husband, so she's living at her father's place.

A

Dios

a

milskak

a

deurreng

me

a

cherchur.

> God has brought me joy and laughter.

Ng

tela

a

ocherengir

a

rechad

el

me

er

a

party?

> How many people are coming to the party?

Proverbs:

Ng

kora

bechars

er

a

Ngerdobotar,

el

di

kiei

me

ng

chelengang

> Like the cockroach of Ngerdobotar, staying on till it became white.

Presumably if a cockroach remains in the darkness for a long time, as one at Ngerdobotar (in Aimeliik) apparently did, it will turn white. Application pertains to a visitor who stays on and on, especially one who is not helpful in the household. Such behavior is not properly human; the person is somehow different, like a white cockroach.

A

uel

el

kuk

meremang

el

me

omeklatk

me

ng

mo

uchul

a

klengitereng

> 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.

Ng

ko

er

a

Ngiramesemong,

el

omilt

a

mla

me

e

mong.

> 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.)

Ke

ko

er

a

kuaol

el

sbungel

er

bab

me

iou.

> You're like a fish bait which can be eaten or pecked from the top and bottom.

You don't know what to do coz chores keep coming in from left and right.

Ng

diak

kobetik

rengii

recheroid

e

me

douchi

er

a

rebai.

> 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:

Tia

el

ochechel

a

bul

a

kired

el

mo

blak

a