mlai, n.canoe; car; automobile; transportation.
a
er
a
me
a
a
a
me
a
mlikn.poss.1s
mlimn.poss.2s
mliln.poss.3s
a
er
el
mlimamn.poss.1pe
mlidn.poss.1pi
mlimiun.poss.2p
mlirirn.poss.3p
blil a mlaiexpr.garage.
mlai er a Siabalexpr.Japanese car.
Examples:
> They were all canoes of equivalent quality.
> Droteo pretends that he knows how to repair cars.
> The car door is open.
> We will push the car.
> Droteo('s car) hit my car.
Proverbs:
> Don't be like the man from Ngerchemai who lost both the turtle and the canoe.
Don't bite off more than you can chew...don't be selfish.
> Like the man of Ngerechemai, who lost his turtle and lost his canoe.
Relates to a fisherman who jumped from his canoe to catch a turtle only to find that his canoe had drifted beyond recovery. Applies to any situation where a person fails at a task, or, aptly, to a situation where a man, through his own foolishness, loses both his wife and his mistress.
> 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.
More Examples:
> He climbed into the car and went I don't know where.
> I am looking for a car.
> My neighbor borrowed my car and drove it into a mango tree.
> I only have two months to pay off for my car.
> I was driving to the store when I got a flat tire.

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