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> Disposing the group at Ngetkeuang. The saying pertains to a situation that occurred at Ngetkeuang, a hamlet in Peleliu. Some members of a group about to sail north were already at the docks ready to board their canoes and set sail with a good strong wind from the south, slightly at an angle to the course they would follow and ideal for sailing. Impatient, the group at the dock finally left the remainder behind and the wind was so strong that they were soon well on their way. The phrase is applied to a wind that is strong, steady, and from the south, like a steady "tradewind" |
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> 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. |
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> One for whom the door of words was not closed. When the secrets of a clan or a profession were being taught by an expert, the house was completely closed and instruction took place in strict, whispered secrecy. the idiom may be applied to a person who, while having the proper status to be knowledgeable, has never learned in closed session; an important but uninformed person. Conversely, an expert or knowledgeable clan his torian is one who "has had the door closed" (mleng a simer). |
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> Like a man circumcised, insufficient skin. Circumcision seems to have been known in Palau prior to contact, perhaps through contact with the Philippines, but was not widely practiced. As in this context, it usually draws attention in the form of ridicule. The idiom applies to any circumstance in which there has been insufficient preparation or planning; a premature decision. |
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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." |
