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> Your mother's brother's head is discarded at Emerert. In head-hunting days villages on the same side-haven as Koror, or otherwise allied, would visit Koror last with heads taken in raids or ambush after visiting several allied villages for dances and money collections marking a successful hunt. By and large, the purpose of head-hunting was economic, with money paid the men of the successful raiding club at each allied village where the heads would be displayed. The collection went to the coffer of their village chief. By the time the warriors reached Koror, then, the heads would often be quite odorous and unpleasant (economically useless). So they would be discarded at a place called Emerert in Koror. From the standpoint of any male ego the mother's brother (okdemaol; okdemelem: your mother's brother) is always significant, since one such individual usually acts as guardian and financial advisor for the younger clan member. The idiom, then, is used by the people of Koror to insult persons of other, generally hostile, villages. |
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> It's like when the men of Ngesias clamored over what they had lost (after a party of raiders had attacked without warning and taken a head as a trophy). The men of the Ngesias (Peleliu) village club were sitting near their clubhouse one evening when raiders broke through the brush, shouted wildly, and excaped with the head of one of them. When they recovered their senses, the men jumped to their spears and shouted threats into the darkness of the surrounding brush. Aroused by the commotion, the village chief appeared and ,when appraised of the situation, admonished them to be quiet since the fuss would gain nothing. "Don't cry over spilt milk." |
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> Puffed out like a puffer fish. A boastful person is like a puffer fish, full of air and not edible, hence not worthy of note. |
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> 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. |
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> A male child, though small, is yet like a small barracuda that braces against the flowing stream. The small barracuda (mersaod, a small ai) can be seen bracing, without apparent motion, against the stream, usually where fresh water flows into the lagoon, or where tide water runs off the reef, until suddenly it dashes into the stream to grab a small fish. Then it retreats once more to its place of watchfulness. This watchful, quiet, reserved, almost crafty approach to life is much admired, and parents will encourage their male children with this saying. |
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