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> Like the name of the community house at Ngerekabesang: "Buttressed." At Ngerekabesang in Koror (central Palau) there is a community house (bai) called Telkakl, which means "to buttress" or "to be buttressed." Some of the older bai in Palau were thus supported with beams from the ground to the eaves, and the implication has been added that a bai so supported must be very full of important possessions. This idiom is used of a person who is wealthy, or of one's self, meaning that one has cash on hand. |
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> Clinging at Ngerekemais. Long ago, when a canoe would approach the dock at Ngerekemais in Koror, the villagers are said to have run to the boat, clinging to it while searching for any small gift the visitors may have brought. The idiom may be applied to anyone groping too apparently for a gift. |
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> Like the running elder. Elders do not run fast, but they can run for great distances. Young men can sprint, but have little endurance. Hence, a person with enduring persistence. |
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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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> 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. |
