| 31 | Aia a paʻi ʻia ka maka, haʻi ʻia kupuna nāna ʻoe. | Only when your face is slapped should you tell who your ancestors are. |
| | [Hawaiians were taught never to boast of illustrious ancestors. But when one is slandered and called an offspring of worthless people, he should mention his ancestors to prove that the statement is wrong.] |
| 112 | A! Loaʻa akula iā ʻoe nā niu o Kaunalewa. | Ah! Now you have the coconuts of Kaunalewa. |
| | [Your worldly possessions are gone. An impolite saying with a play on Kau-nā-lewa (Hang-suspended), as if to say, “Now all you have is a hanging scrotum.” Kaunalewa was a famous coconut grove on Kauaʻi.] |
| 132 | ʻAʻohe e loaʻa Niu-a-Kāne iā ʻoe. | Youll never be able to reach Kāne’s coconuts. |
| | [Said of something unattainable. Niu-a-Kāne is a rock islet in the sea at Hāna, Maui.] |
| 191 | ʻAʻohe na ia mau mea e uē iā ʻoe, na ke kanaka ʻoe e uē. | Things will not mourn you, but people will. |
| | [Said to one who thinks more of his possessions than of his kinfolk or friends.] |
| 196 | ʻAʻohe ʻoe no koʻu hālau. | You are not of my shed. |
| | [Why do you presume to know who my ancestors are?] |
| 217 | ʻAʻohe wāwae o ka iʻa; ʻo ʻoe ka mea wāwae, kiʻi mai. | Fish have no feet; you who have feet must come and get it. |
| | [Said of one who asks for, but doesn’t come to get, what he wants. Any footless creature might be used as an example.] |
| 231 | ʻAʻole ʻoe koʻu hoa ʻōlelo. | You are not the companion to talk with. |
| | [You are not my equal.] |
| 235 | ʻAuhea nō hoʻi kou kanaka uʻi a ʻimi ʻoe i wahine nāu? | Why is it that you do not show how handsome you are by seeking your own woman ? |
| | [A woman might say, under the same circumstances, “ʻAuhea nō hoʻi kou wahine uʻi a ʻimi ʻoe i kāne nau?’] |
| 250 | E ʻai ana ʻoe i ka poi paua o Keaiwa. | Now you are eating poi made from the paua taro of Keaiwa. |
| | [A boast from the district of Kaʻū: “Now you are seeing the very best that we have.” Also used to say, “Now you will find out how fine a girl (or boy) can be in making love.” The paua was the best taro in Kaʻū and the only variety that grew on the plains.] |
| 270 | ʻEha ana ʻoe lā i ka makani kuʻi o ka Ulumano. | You will he hurt by the pounding of the Ulumano breeze. |
| | [One is hurt by the sharp words spoken. This is a line from an old chant.] |
| 284 | E hoʻi e peʻe i ke ōpū weuweu me he moho lā. E ao o haʻi ka pua o ka mauʻu iā ʻoe. | Go back and hide among the clumps of grass like the wingless rail. Be careful not to break even a blade of grass. |
| | [Retum to the country to live a humble life and leave no trace to be noticed and followed. So said the chief Keliʻiwahamana to his daughter when he was dying. Later used as advice to a young person not to be aggressive or show off.] |
| 298 | E huʻe mai ʻoe i ke koaiʻe o Makawao! | Try uprooting the koaiʻe tree of Makawao! |
| | [I defy you to tackle a lad of Makawao! A boast from a native of Makawao, Maui.] |
| 309 | E ʻike ana ʻoe i ke liʻi nui o Oʻahu, o Kakuhihewa. | You will meet with the great chief of Oʻahu, Kakuhihewa. |
| | [You shall find out how wrong you are. A play on kuhihewa (erroneous).] |
| 320 | E keʻekeʻehi kūlana i paʻa. ʻO ʻoe hoʻokahi, ʻo wau hoʻokahi, kū mai i mua. | Take a firm stand. You, by yourself, and I, by myself, let us step forth. |
| | [A challenge to one to step out of a crowd and fight man to man.] |
| 341 | E loaʻa ana iā ʻoe ka mea a Paʻahao. | Youll get what Paʻahao has. |
| | [Paʻahao, a native of Kaʻiā, was often teased by his neighbors because when annoyed he would snap, “Naio!” (“Pinworms!”) This amused his tormentors. When annoyed, one might say, “You’ll get what Paʻahao has.” Paʻahao lived in Waiōhinu, Kaʻū, during the late 1800s and early 1900s.] |
| 358 | E nānā wāhine aʻe nō, ʻaʻole ʻoe e loaʻa. | Women can be observed, [but] you cannot be matched. |
| | [One may look at other women but none can be compared to you.] |
| 514 | Hea ʻia mai kēia kanaka, malia he inoa i loaʻa iā ʻoe. | Call an invitation to this person, perhaps you know the name. |
| | [A request to be called into someone’s home, usually uttered by a passing relative or friend who would like to pause and rest but is not sure that he is recognized by the others.] |
| 543 | He ana ka manaʻo o ke kanaka, ʻaʻole ʻoe e ʻike iā loko. | The thoughts of man are like caves whose interiors one cannot see. |
| 595 | He hou ʻoe, he iʻa moe ahiahi. | You are a hou, a fish that sleeps in the evening. |
| | [A small, inoffensive fellow — but one who will fight when annoyed.] |
| 640 | He ʻio ʻoe, he ʻio au, he ʻio nā ʻānela o ke akua, kiʻi maila nō iā ʻoe a lawe. | You are a hawk, I am a hawk, and the angels of God are hawks. |
| | [Uttered by Hitchcock, a missionary, over the coffin of a sorcerer who had threatened to pray him to death and referred to himself as an ʻio, the bird that flies the highest.] |
| 682 | He Keʻei ʻoe no lalo lilo. | You are a person of Keʻei, from far below. |
| | [You are of no consequence. Two chiefesses peered into a pool together at Keʻei, in Kona, Hawaiʻi. The reflection of the one from Hanauma appeared above that of the one from Keʻei, so she made this remark.] |
| 723 | He lau maiʻa pala ka wahine, hou aku nō ʻoe, pōhae. | A woman is like a yellowed banana leaf that tears when one pokes at it. |
| | [A woman does not have the strength of a man.] |
| 732 | Hele aku ʻoe ma ʻaneʻi, he waʻa kanaka; hoʻi mai ʻoe ma ʻō he waʻa akua. | When you go from here, the canoe will contain men; when you return, it will be a ghostly canoe. |
| | [Warning to Keouakuahuʻula by his kahuna not to go to meet Kamehameha at Kawaihae. He went anyway and was killed.] |
| 868 | He ʻōpelu ʻoe, he iʻa lomi. | You are an ʻōpelu fish, easily broken into small pieces by working with the fingers. |
| | [You are a weak person, easily subdued.] |
| 871 | He ʻōpuʻu ʻoe, he kākala kēlā. | You are a bud, he is spurred. |
| | [You are a cock whose spurs are just budding; he is a cock with spurs that are already strong. Said as a warning to a youngster not to challenge one stronger than he.] |
| 962 | He unu ʻoe no ka waʻa pae. | You are a rock for beaching a canoe. |
| | [You are worth nothing but to be stepped on.] |
| 1043 | Hoʻi nō kāu me ʻoe. | May yours return to you. |
| | [A reply to a person who utters a curse. It means “I do not accept your curse,” and frees the speaker from trouble.] |
| 1156 | I hea ʻoe i ka wā a ka ua e loku ana? | Where were you when the rain was pouring ? |
| | [A reply to one who asks his neighbor for some of his crop. If he answered that he had been away during the rains, he would be given some food; but if he said that he had been there, he would be refused. It was due to his own laziness that he did not have a crop as fine as his industrious neighbor’s.] |
| 1169 | I ʻike ʻia nō ʻoe i ka lā o ko loaʻa; i ka lā o ka nele pau kou ʻike ʻia mai. | You are recognized when prosperous; but when poverty comes, you are no longer recognized. |
| | [Fair-weather friends gather when one is prosperous and scatter when prosperity is gone.] |
| 1170 | I ʻike ʻia nō ʻoe i ka loaʻa aku o kāu. | You are recognized as long as yours is received. |
| | [A warning about fair-weather friends who are friendly as long as they continue to benefit.] |
| 1173 | I ʻike ʻoe iā Kauaʻi a puni a ʻike ʻole iā Kauaʻi-iki, ʻaʻole nō ʻoe i ʻike iā Kauaʻi. | If you have seen all of the places on the island of Kauaʻi and have not seen Little Kauaʻi, you have not seen the whole of Kauaʻi. |
| | [Kauaʻi-iki (Little Kauaʻi) is a stone that stood in a taro patch at Wahiawa, Kauaʻi. When it was threatened with destruction by the building of a road, it was rescued by Walter McBryde and taken to Maiʻaloa and later to Kukuiolono Park, where it stands today.] |
| 1185 | I kanaka nō ʻoe ke mālama i ke kanaka. | You will be well served when you care for the person who serves you. |
| 1194 | I ka piko nō ʻoe lihaliha. | Eat of the belly and you will he satiated. |
| | [The best part of the fish is the belly, especially when it’s fat. There is a play on piko (genitals) whereby this saying acquires sexual import.] |
| 1249 | I paʻa iā ia ʻaʻole ʻoe e puka. | If it had ended with him [or her] you would not be here. |
| | [Said to a younger sibling to encourage more respect for an elder.] |
| 1257 | I puni iā ʻoe o Kaʻū a i ʻike ʻole ʻoe iā Kaʻūloa, ʻaʻohe nō ʻoe i ʻike iā Kaʻū. | If you have been around Kaʻū and have not seen Kaʻūloa, you have not seen the whole of the district. Kaʻūloa and Waiōhinu were two stones, wife and husband, that stood in a kukui grove on the upper side of the road between Na’alehu and Waiōhinu. With the passing of time, these stones gradually sank until they vanished completely into the earth. After Kaʻūloa was no longer seen, Palahemo was substituted as the chief point of interest. |
| 1258 | I puni iā ʻoe o Lānaʻi a i ʻike ʻole iā Lānaʻi-Kaʻula me Lānaʻi-Hale, ʻaʻohe nō ʻoe i ʻike iā Lānaʻi. | If you have gone around Lānaʻi, and have not seen Lānaʻi Kaʻula and Lānaʻi Hale, you have not seen all of Lānaʻi. |
| 1696 | Ke hiʻi lā ʻoe i ka paukū waena, he neo ke poʻo me ka hiʻu. | You hold the center piece without its head and tail. |
| | [You know only the middle part of the genealogy or legend. What about the origin and the latter part?] |
| 1835 | Komo akula ʻoe i ka ʻai a ka lua i Kealapiʻiakaʻōpae. | You are caught by the hold in lua fghting called Kealapiʻiakaʻōpae. |
| 1864 | Kuha! Nāu nō ʻoe e hele aʻe. | Spit! You come to seek me of your own accord. |
| | [It was called Kuhakalani (Heaven’s expectoration). After the kahuna had prayed that the victim fall in love with the person who consulted him, the consultant was sent to stand with his back against the wind, holding a flower and facing a spot where the victim was likely to appear. Here he spat upon the flower with the words, “Kuha! Nāu nō ʻoe e hele aʻe,” and dropped the blossom. When the victim of the sorcery came near the flower, an intense love would possess him and he would go in search of the person who dropped it there.] |
| 1942 | Lālau aku ʻoe i ka ʻulu i ka wēkiu, i ke alo nō ka ʻulu, a hala. | You reach for the breadfruit away at the top and miss the one in front of you. |
| | [Sometimes one who reaches afar misses an opportunity that is right before him. Once Kalākaua promised to give a better position to Kamaʻiopili of Maui, but then forgot his promise. One day, while playing billiards with the king, Kamaʻiopili purposely played very badly and exclaimed, “I ke alo nō ka ʻulu, a hala,” whenever he missed the cue ball (ʻulu). This puzzled the king, and when the game was over, he asked a man who knew all the old sayings what Kamaʻiopili had meant. The king was told that Kamaʻiopili was reminding him that others had been rewarded with good positions, but that the man right in front of him, Kamaʻiopili, had been forgotten.] |
| 2044 | Mai hahaki ʻoe i ka ʻōhelo o punia i ka ua noe. | Do not pluck the ʻōhelo berries lest we be surrounded by rain and fog. |
| | [A warning not to do anything that would result in trouble. It is kapu to pluck ʻōhelo berries on the way to the crater of Kīlauea. To do so would cause the rain and fog to come and one would lose his way. It is permissible to pick them at the crater if the first ʻōhelo is tossed into the fire of Pele. Then, on the homeward way, one may pick as he pleases.] |
| 2046 | "Mai hea mai ʻoe?" “Mai Kona mai.” “Pehea ka ua o Kona?” “Palahī puaʻa ka ua o Kona.” “A pehea ke aku?” “Hī ka pā, hī ka malau.” | “Where are you from?” “From Kona.” “How is the rain of Kona?” “The rain of Kona pours like the watery excreta of a hog.” “How are the aku fish?” “They run loose from the hook and the bait carrier.” |
| | [Said in fun of one suffering from loose bowels. Once, a chief was out relieving himself when his bowels were very loose. A runner came by the little-traveled path through the underbrush and seeing the chief there extended his greetings. The chief began to ask questions, which the runner answered. When the chief went home he told those of his household of the abundance of rain and the run of fish in Kona. His servant, whose curiosity was roused, asked, “What were you doing at the time?” “I was excreting, and my bowels were loose,” answered the chief. “He wasn’t talking about the rain and fish,” said the servant, “he was talking about you.” The chief was angry when he heard this, but it was too late to do anything about it.] |
| 2054 | Mai hopu mai ʻoe, he manu kapu; ua kapu na ka nahele o ʻOʻokuauli. | Do not catch it, for it is a bird reserved; reserved for the forest of ʻOʻokuauli. |
| | [Do not try to win one who is reserved for another.] |
| 2077 | Mai lilo ʻoe i puni wale, o lilo ʻoe i kamaliʻi. | Do not believe all that is told you lest you be [led as] a little child. |
| | [Do not be gullible; scan, weigh, and think for yourself.] |
| 2084 | Mai piʻi aʻe ʻoe i ka lālā kau halalī o ʻike ʻia kou wahi hilahila e ou mau hoa. | Do not climb to the topmost branches lest your private parts be seen by your companions. |
| | [Do not put on an air of superiority lest people remember only your faults.] |
| 2122 | Mālama o pā ʻoe. | Be careful lest the result be disastrous to you. |
| | [Watch your step lest evil attach itself to you. A warning not to break a kapu.] |
| 2133 | "Māmaki" aku au, “hamaki” mai ʻoe. Pehea ka like? | I say “māmaki” and you say “hamaki.” How are they alike? |
| | [Once a Hawaiian had some tapa made of māmaki bark which he wished to trade with some white sailors. He did not speak English and they did not speak Hawaiian. He said, “He kapa māmaki kēia.” (“This is kapa made of māmaki.”) Although they did not know exactly what he said, they understood that his goods were for sale. They asked, “How much?” He thought they were asking what kind of tapa he had, so he answered, “Māmaki.” Again the sailors asked, “How much?” which sounded like “hamaki” to the Hawaiian. In exasperation he cried, “I say ʻmāmaki’ and you say ʻhamaki.’How are they alike?” This utterance came to apply to two people who absolutely cannot agree.] |
| 2234 | Na ke akua ʻoe e ʻike. | May the god see you. |
| | [An ʻānai (to rub hard) curse that someone meet with dire trouble sent him by the gods. To alleviate this, one replies quickly, if he remembers to, “Me ʻoe nō kāuʻ (“Let your words remain with you”) or “Hoʻi nō kāu ʻōlelo maluna ou” (“May your words go back on you”). This turning back of a curse is called hoʻihoʻi.] |
| 2302 | Na wai ke kupu ʻo ʻoe? | Whose sprout are you ? |
| | [Whose child are you? Also expressed Na wai ke kama ʻo ʻoe?] |
| 2333 | No kai heʻe ʻoe. | You belong to the sea where octopus is found. |
| | [You are a liar! A play on heʻe (octopus) which is part of wahaheʻe (falsehood).] |
| 2471 | ʻO Kona i ka paka ʻona — ke haʻu iho ʻoe kūnewanewa. | Kona of the potent tohacco — a draw would make one stagger. |
| | [Kona is said to be a land of potent lovemaking.] |
| 2514 | ʻO nā hōkū o ka lani kai ʻike iā Pae. Aia a loaʻa ka pūnana o ke kōlea, loaʻa ʻo ia iā ʻoe. | Only the stars of heaven know where Pae is. When you find a plover’s nest, then you will find him. |
| | [Said of something so well hidden that it will not be found. Pae was a priest in the reign of ʻUmi. He was so lucky in fishing that the chief desired his bones for fishhooks after his death. When Pae died, his sons hid his bones so well that none of the chiefs and priests could find them. The sons would say, “When you find the nest of the plover, then will you find him.” But ʻUmi enlisted the help of a noted priest of Kauaʻi, who saw the ghost of Pae drinking from a spring in Waimanu Valley. Thus were the bones of Pae found and made into fishhooks for the chief. The sons of Pae were reminded that the chief was using their father’s bones for hooks by his constant cry, “O Pae, hold fast to our fish!”] |
| 2524 | ʻO ʻoe, a ʻo wau, nalo ia mea. | You and me; it is hidden. |
| | [Let the secret be with us alone.] |
| 2525 | ʻO ʻoe hoʻi kahi i Hāʻupu kēlā, ua kupu a kiʻekiʻe i luna. | You, too, were on the tall hill of Haʻupu going all the way up to the very top. |
| | [Said sarcastically to a person who boasts of his greatness.] |
| 2526 | ʻO ʻoe kaʻu! | Youre mine! |
| | [Said in anger to mean, “You’re going to get it!”] |
| 2574 | Paʻihi ʻoe lā, lilo i ka wai, ʻaʻohe ʻike iho i ka hoa mua. | Well adorned are you, borne along by the water, no longer recognizing former friends. |
| | [Said of one who grows proud with prosperity and looks down on his friends of less prosperous days. There is a play on wai (water). When doubled — waiwai — it refers to prosperity.] |
| 2606 | Pau kā ʻoe hana, pio kā ʻoe ahi, pala kā ʻoe ʻāhui. | Your work is done, your fire is extinguished, your [banana] bunch has ripened. |
| | [Said by Kahekili, chief of Maui, after he defeated Peleioholani of Oʻahu. Used with relief and gladness that a person has died. Common in old newspapers.] |
| 2629 | Pēpē ʻōmaka ʻoe, pā i ka paʻakai, uāniʻi. | You are a weak ʻōmaka — when touched with salt you stiffen. |
| | [The ʻōmaka is a small, soft fish. Said to a weakling who, with outside help, gains a little courage.] |
| 2632 | Pī ʻia ko wahi pilau iki, ʻaʻole ʻoe i ʻike i ko pilau nui. | Refuse to give your little stink a place and youʻll never know when a greater stink will come to you. |
| | [A curse uttered by a sorcerer to a woman who refuses his advances. In refusing a sexual union with him she may meet a greater “stink”- — death and decomposition.] |
| 2729 | Puka maila ʻoe, ua kala kahiko i Lehua. | Now that you have come, [what we had] has long departed to Lehua. |
| | [Said to one who comes too late to share what his friends have had.] |
| 2800 | Ua ka ua i Papakōlea, ihea ʻoe? | When it rained in Papakōlea, where were you ? |
| | [The reply of a sweet-potato grower on Papakōlea to one who asks for some of his crop. If one answered that he had been there when the rain fell to soak the earth for planting, and had not planted, then he was lazy and would be given no potatoes.] |
| 2887 | Uē ka hoʻi ka naonao iā ʻoe! | So the ants will cry for you! |
| | [A sarcastic remark meaning, “You think you are so important that even the ants will cry for you.”] |
| 2897 | Waha lama ʻoe, puʻu mai ka waha i waho. | You are rum-mouthed; the mouth protrudes. |
| | [Said to one who talks as foolishly as a drunkard.] |