| 9 | A hewa no he hale kanaka, ʻaʻohe hewa o ka hale kanaka ʻole. | Fault can he found in an inhabited house and none in an uninhabited one. |
| | [Mistakes and weakness are always found in humanity.] |
| 24 | Aia akula i kula panoa wai ʻole. | Gone to the dry, waterless plain. |
| | [Gone where one may find himself stranded or deserted.] |
| 29 | Aia anei ka maka i ke kua o ʻike ʻole iho? | Are the eyes on the back that one cannot see what is being done? |
| | [Said of one who declares that he doesn’t know how to do a certain thing and perhaps will not be able to learn.] |
| 113 | Aloha mai nō, aloha aku; ʻo ka huhiā ka mea e ola ʻole ai. | When love is given, love should he returned; anger is the thing that gives no life. |
| 120 | Anu hewa i ka pō, he kuʻuna iʻa ʻole. | Feeling the cold air of the night was all in vain; no fish was caught in the net. |
| | [A wasted effort.] |
| 151 | ʻAʻohe ʻīnaʻi komo ʻole o ka ʻai. | There is no meat that doesnt taste good with poi. |
| | [Let it go at that. Used especially with regard to genealogy to mean: Even if one claims kinship with me, it doesn’t matter whether the connection is genuine. My life will continue; I can still eat poi.] |
| 153 | ʻAʻohe inoa komo ʻole o ka ʻai. | No name prevents food from entering the mouth. |
| | [Similar to the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.”] |
| 155 | ʻAʻohe ipu ʻōpio e ʻole ka mimino i ka lā. | No immature gourd can withstand withering in the sun [without care]. |
| | [No child can get along without adult supervision.] |
| 159 | ʻAʻohe kanaka i ʻeha ʻole i ke aloha. | Nobody has ever missed feeling the pang of love. |
| 168 | ʻAʻohe lau komo ʻole. | Any leaf goes in. |
| | [Said of one who does not care whether food is clean or unclean, as long as it suppresses hunger.] |
| 188 | ʻAʻohe mea make i ka hewa; make nō i ka mihi ʻole. | No one has ever died for the mistakes he has made; only because he didn’t repent. |
| | [Urges repentance to one’s aumākua. Later came to include the idea of repentance before the Christian God.] |
| 192 | ʻAʻohe nānā; he holoholona ia he mea ʻuhane ʻole; o ke kanaka nō ka nānā, he mea ʻuhane. | Never mind; it is an animal, a soulless creature; take heed of man, for he is a creature with a soul. |
| 198 | ʻAʻohe ola o ka ʻāina i ke aliʻi haipule ʻole. | The land cannot live under an irreligious chief. |
| 272 | ʻEha i ka ʻeha lima ʻole a ke aloha. | He is smitten by love, with a pain administered without hands. |
| | [He is deeply in love.] |
| 346 | E mālama i ka mākua, he mea laha ʻole; ʻo ke kāne he loaʻa i ka lā hoʻokahi. | Take care of parents for they are choice; a husband can he found in a day. |
| | [Parents should be cared for, for when they are gone, there are none to replace them. One can marry again and again.] |
| 396 | Haʻalele i ka ʻulaʻula waiwai a koho i ka ʻulaʻula waiwai ʻole. | Leaves the valuable red and chooses the worthless red. |
| | [Said of one who rejects a suitor of rank in favor of one of lesser station.] |
| 420 | Hala i ke ala hoʻi ʻole mai. | Gone on the road from which there is no returning. |
| | [Death.] |
| 442 | Hāmama ka waha he pō iʻa ʻole. | When the mouth yawns, it is a night on which no fish are caught. |
| | [A sleepy, yawning person isn’t likely to be out catching fish.] |
| 445 | Hana a ke kama ʻole, hele ʻopeʻope i ke ala loa. | A person who has not raised a child may go along with his bundles on the road. |
| | [Said of an aged person who has no one to care for him. Had he troubled to rear children they could take care of him when he was old.] |
| 462 | Hana mao ʻole ka ua o Hilo. | Endlessly pours the rain of Hilo. |
| | [Said of anything that goes on and on, as the pouring rain, or of havoc such as that produced by a torrent. Names of other places are sometimes substituted for Hilo.] |
| 465 | Hānau ʻia i Kaulua, he koa wiwo ʻole. | Born in Kaulua, a warrior brave is he. |
| | [Said of one born in the month of Kaulua.] |
| 484 | Hāpapa hewa ka malihini makamaka ʻole. | A stranger without a friend feels lost. |
| | [This was first uttered in a chant by Hiʻiaka, who, upon arriving at Kauaʻi to seek Lohiʻau, found no friendliness from his sister Kahuanui and her people.] |
| 511 | He aha kāu o ka lapa manu ʻole? | What are you doing on a ridge where no birds are found? |
| | [That is a wild goose chase.] |
| 518 | He ʻai leo ʻole, he ʻīpuka hāmama. | Food unaccompanied by a voice; a door always open. |
| | [Said about the home of a hospitable person. The food can be eaten without hearing a complaint from the owners, and the door is never closed to any visitor.] |
| 611 | He iʻa moʻa ʻole i kālua. | A fish that can never he cooked. |
| | [Said of a person of low rank. Nothing can change his genealogy.] |
| 618 | He ikaika ke kanaka kaena i ka wā pilikia ʻole, akā he hōhē wale i ka lā o ka pilikia. | A braggart is strong when there is no trouble, but flees when there is. |
| 633 | He imu pale ʻole; huikau ka nohona. | An uncovered oven; abiding in confusion. |
| | [Like an imu in which each kind of food is not set apart in its own place, but piled in helter skelter, so is a promiscuous and careless family.] |
| 638 | He ʻio au, ʻaʻohe lālā kau ʻole. | I am a hawk; there is no branch on which I cannot perch. |
| | [I can go anywhere I please; I am a chief.] |
| 644 | He ipu pala ʻole. | A calabash without a dah [of poi ] in it. |
| | [An ignoramus. Also expressed ʻUmeke pala ʻole.] |
| 647 | He iwi koko ʻole. | Bloodless bones. |
| | [A dead person.] |
| 649 | He kāʻeʻaʻeʻa pulu ʻole no ka heʻe nalu. | An expert on the surfboard who does not get wet. |
| | [Praise of an outstanding surfer.] |
| 670 | He kāne ʻeha ʻole o ka ʻili. | A husband who does not inflict pain on his wife. |
| | [Said by a wife in appreciation for a husband who never beats her.] |
| 685 | He keiki e nānā ana, he keiki e nānā ʻole ana. | One child may care, and another may not. |
| | [Said to one who raises a family — some may take care of the senior members of the family and some may not.] |
| 706 | He kui nao hemo ʻole i ke kala. | A screw that a screwdriver can not remove. |
| | [A fixed idea in a stubbom mind; something that nothing can undo.] |
| 740 | He lei poina ʻole ke keiki. | A lei never forgotten is the beloved child. |
| 763 | He like nō ke koʻele, ʻo ka pili naʻe he like ʻole. | The thumping sounds the same, but the fitting of the parts is not. |
| | [Some do good work, others do not; but the hustle and bustle are the same.] |
| 782 | He maʻi makamaka ʻole. | The disease that deprives one of relatives and friends. |
| | [Leprosy.] |
| 784 | He maʻi ola ʻole i kahuna. | A sickness that no kahuna can heal. |
| | [A play on maʻi, which refers to either a sickness or the genitals. Diseases can be cured by a kahuna, but gender is something that no kahuna can change.] |
| 789 | He makau hala ʻole. | A fishhook that never fails to catch. |
| | [A boast of a person who attracts the opposite sex and holds his or her attention.] |
| 804 | He manu ke aloha, ʻaʻohe lālā kau ʻole. | Love is like a bird — there is no branch that it does not perch upon. |
| | [Love is an emotion shared by all.] |
| 810 | He mau maka laha ʻole. | Faces that are rare. |
| | [Said by members of the royal court in speaking of their chiefs with appreciation for the privilege of serving. The faces of the aliʻi were rarely seen.] |
| 815 | He mea laha ʻole. | Not spread everywhere. |
| | [A thing rare. A not uncommon expression in songs and chants.] |
| 851 | He ʻōheke wale ko ke kanaka kuaʻāina a he ʻōheke ʻole ko ke kanaka o kahi aliʻi. | A country man is very shy, but a man of the royal court is not. |
| 852 | He ʻohu ke aloha; ʻaʻohe kuahiwi kau ʻole. | Love is like mist; there is no mountain top that it does not settle upon. |
| | [Love comes to all.] |
| 883 | He palupalu nā hewa liʻiliʻi i ka wā kolo, lolelua i ka wā kamaliʻi, loli ʻole i ka wā oʻo, ʻoni paʻa i ka wā ʻelemakule. | Small sins are weak in the creeping stage, changeable in childhood, unchanging when an adult, and firmly fixed in age. |
| | [Bad habits can be changed in the early stages but eventually become firmly implanted.] |
| 884 | He pane makamaka ʻole. | An answer that keeps no friends. |
| | [A rude retort.] |
| 885 | He paoʻo ka iʻa ʻaʻohe kāheka lēhei ʻole ʻia. | There is no sea pool that a pāoʻo fish does not leap into. |
| | [An active person is found everywhere] |
| 892 | He pili kauawe paha ke kumu i moʻa ʻole ai ke kalo. | Perhaps the reason for the partly cooked condition of the taro is because it is the one closest to the leaves that cover over the imu. |
| | [Said of an imperfect or defective task, or of a person whose ideas are “half-baked.”] |
| 896 | He pili wehena ʻole. | A relationship that cannot be undone. |
| | [A blood relationship.] |
| 920 | He pua laha ʻole. | A flower not common. |
| | [One who is as choice and highly prized as a very rare blossom. An expression much used in chants and songs.] |
| 948 | He ʻuhā leo ʻole. | A lap without protest. |
| | [Said of a woman who is willing to have intercourse with any man who asks her.] |
| 959 | He ʻulu ʻaʻai ʻole; he hāʻule wale i ka makani. | It is a breadfruit that does not hold to the tree; it falls easily with the wind. |
| | [Said of a person whose loyalty is doubtful — he can be swayed to desert his chief.] |
| 964 | He ʻupena nae; ʻaʻohe iʻa hei ʻole. | It is a fine-meshed net; there is no fish that it does not fail to catch. |
| | [Said of a woman who never fails to attract the opposite sex.] |
| 976 | He wai makamaka ʻole. | Water that recognizes no friend. |
| | [Said of flooded streams that are dangerous.] |
| 986 | Hihi kaunaʻoa, hihi i Mānā; aloha wale ia lāʻau kumu ʻole. | The dodder vine creeps, creeps at Mānā; beloved indeed is the trunkless plant. |
| | [This saying comes from two lines of a chant. Said of a person with no family background, or to a parasitical person. The kaunaʻoa (dodder vine) is a parasite.] |
| 993 | Hili hewa ka manaʻo ke ʻole ke kūkākūkā. | Ideas run wild without discussion. |
| | [Discussion brings ideas together into a plan.] |
| 1001 | Hilo i ka ua kinakinai, ka ua mao ʻole. | Hilo of the constant rain, where it never clears up. |
| 1064 | Hoʻohū ka ua i ka moana, pilipili ʻāina ʻole mai. | The rain driving out to the ocean does not come near the land. |
| | [Said when a person snubs his old friends.] |
| 1100 | Hoʻomaha ʻole ke kai a Mokupaoa. | The sea of Mokupaoa never rests. |
| | [Said of anything or anyone who goes on and on without resting. Mokupaoa is a place name.] |
| 1115 | Hopu hewa i ka loli, i ka iʻa maka ʻole. | Grasped the eyeless fish by mistake. |
| | [Met with disappointment. The loli (sea cucumber) is known as the fish without eyes.] |
| 1125 | Hū hewa i Kapua ka ʻauwaʻa pānānā ʻole. | The fleet of canoes without a compass landed at Kapua by mistake. |
| | [Said of one who is off his course, mentally or otherwise. A saying from Kohala.] |
| 1151 | I ʻauheʻe ʻo Kaʻuiki i ka wai ʻole. | Kaʻuiki was defeated for the lack of water. |
| | [When ʻUmi, ruler of Hawaiʻi, went to Hāna to battle against Lono-a-Piʻilani of Kaʻuiki, thirst weakened the Maui warriors. Often used later to mean “without water or the needed supplies we cannot win.”] |
| 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.] |
| 1217 | I komo nō ka haʻi puaʻa i ka paʻa ʻole o ka pā. | Other people’s pigs come in when the fence is not kept in good repair. |
| | [When you behave well and tend to your own business, no sorcerer can send his evil gods to destroy you, for your own gods will give you their protection.] |
| 1247 | I ʻolāʻolā nō ka huewai i ka piha ʻole. | The water gourd gurgles when not filled full. |
| | [A person not very well informed talks more than one who is.] |
| 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. |
| 1266 | I wawā ʻia ka hale kanaka. Na wai e wawā ka hale kanaka ʻole? | Voices are heard around an inhabited house. Who hears voices about an uninhabited one ? |
| | [Where people are, life is. From a chant for Kaʻahumanu.] |
| 1274 | Ka ʻai niho ʻole a ka makani i ka ʻai. | Even without teeth the wind consumes the food crops. |
| | [Said of a destructive windstorm.] |
| 1279 | Kaʻapā ka manu hulu ʻole. | A bird without feathers is helpless. |
| | [Said of a weakling.] |
| 1283 | Ka ʻelele leo ʻole. | The silent messenger. |
| | [A letter. It brings messages but does not speak.] |
| 1284 | Ka ʻelele leo ʻole o ke aloha. | The voiceless messenger of love. |
| | [A letter bearing words of love and cheer.] |
| 1286 | Ka hāʻawi a ka mea hale, koe koena ʻole ma kūʻono. | Giving as a house owner does, with nothing left hidden in the corners. |
| | [Said of a very generous person who gives freely of all he has.] |
| 1302 | Ka hāuli o ka mea hewa ʻole, he nalowale koke. | A bruise inflicted on an innocent person vanishes quickly. |
| | [Mean words uttered against the innocent may hurt, but the hurt will not last.] |
| 1315 | Ka home kaupoku ʻole. | The home without a ridgepole. |
| | [A prison, ship, or any place that is occupied but is not actually a home.] |
| 1371 | Ka iʻa maunu ʻole o ke kahawai. | The fish of the stream that requires no bait. |
| | [The wī, a freshwater shellfish.] |
| 1414 | Ka ipukukui pio ʻole i ke Kauaʻula. | The light that will not go out in spite of the blowing of the Kauaʻula wind. |
| | [Said of the Lahainaluna School, where many leaders of old Hawaiʻi were educated.] |
| 1419 | Ka lāʻau kumu ʻole o Kahilikolo. | The trunkless tree of Kahilikolo. |
| | [Said of one who lacks a family background. Famed in many Kauaʻi chants and legends is the trunkless koa tree of Kahilikolo. The tree does not grow upright but spreads over the ground. To say that one has found the trunk of Kahilikolo is to say that he has found nothing.] |
| 1429 | Ka lālā kaukonakona haki ʻole i ka pā a ka makani Kona. | The tough branch that does not break in the Kona gales. |
| | [Said of a sturdy, strong person.] |
| 1438 | Ka lei hāʻule ʻole, he keiki. | A lei that is never cast aside is one’s child. |
| 1471 | Kamaliʻi ʻike ʻole i ka helu pō: Muku nei, Muku ka malama; Hilo nei, kau ka Hoaka. | Children who do not know the moon phases: Muku is here, Muku the moon; Hilo comes next, then Hoaka. |
| | [The first part of a child’s chant for learning the names of the moon phases. Also said of one who does not know the answer to a question or is ignorant. He is compared to a small child who has not learned the moon phases.] |
| 1516 | Ka ō ʻole i ka wehe a ka Hoʻolua. | No stopping when the Hoʻolua wind opens up. |
| | [Said of anything that can’t be stopped.] |
| 1608 | Kau i Kāpua ka poʻe polohuku ʻole. | Those without resources will land at Kāpua. |
| | [Without resources one gets nowhere.] |
| 1627 | Ka ʻulu loaʻa ʻole i ka lou ʻia. | The breadfruit that even a pole cannot reach. |
| | [Said of a person of very high rank.] |
| 1671 | Ke akua liʻiliʻi hana ʻole i ka lani me ke honua. | Little god who did not create heaven and earth. |
| | [A saying used by Christian Hawaiians to express scorn for any god of old Hawaiʻi.] |
| 1713 | Ke kaha ʻai ʻole a ʻīloli. | The foodless place, ʻĪloli. |
| | [ʻĪloli, Molokaʻi, was said to be a place where no food could be grown because of its lack of moisture.] |
| 1716 | Kekaha wai ʻole o nā Kona. | Waterless Kekaha of the Kona district. |
| | [Kekaha in Kona, Hawaiʻi, is known for its scarcity of water but is dearly loved by its inhabitants.] |
| 1743 | Ke kawa wai ʻole o Kaumaea. | The waterless leaping place of Kaumaea. |
| 1760 | Ke kuko waiwai ʻole a Keʻinohoʻomanawanui. | The worthless wish of Keʻinohoʻomanawanni. |
| | [A worthless desire that shows no ambition. Keʻinohoʻomanawanui and his friend, Kalelealuakā discussed one night the things they would like to receive from the ruler, Kakuhihewa, if possible. Keʻinohoʻomanawanui thought of food, much food. His companion spoke of being the ruler’s son-in-law and achieving honors. Unknown to them, their discussion was overheard and reported to the ruler. Kakuhihewa was angered but was appeased by his kahuna, who told him that the wish for food was indeed worthless but the wish to be his son-in-law showed ambition and a desire to accomplish.] |
| 1762 | Ke kula wai ʻole o Kamaʻoa. | The waterless plain of Kamaʻoa. |
| | [The plain of Kamaʻoa, in Kaʻū, was well populated, but its people had to go upland for their water supply.] |
| 1810 | Koʻekoʻe ka pō hoa ʻole. | Cold are the nights without a mate. |
| 1817 | Kohu ʻole kahi wai o Kanaio. | Unattractive is the water of Kanaio. |
| | [A contemptuous expression meaning that something another person has said or done is worthless. A play on naio (pinworm), found in the anus.] |
| 2002 | Like ʻole ka pilina o ka nihoniho. | The scallops were not all of the same size. |
| | [This saying compares people to the scallops on lace. When all are in harmony, they are attractive and interesting. But when they are not, they are like lace with scallops of all sizes and shapes.] |
| 2020 | Lomia a wali i ka wali lima ʻole a ke aloha. | Squeezed and crushed by love, who does it without hands. |
| | [Said of heartrending grief.] |
| 2030 | Luluāʻina ʻole. | Without freckles or spots. |
| | [Said of one who was well cared for in every way, such as a young chief or a favorite child.] |
| 2037 | Maʻewaʻewa i ka hale kuleana ʻole. | One receives abuse in a house without a relative. |
| | [Pitiful is the lot of one who dwells with those who do not care.] |
| 2055 | Mai ʻike ʻole ʻia nō! | It almost missed being noticed! |
| | [A sarcastic reply to one who boasts of his accomplishments.] |
| 2057 | Mai kaena, o kō ʻole auaneʻi. | Do not boast lest you fail to accomplish what you had boasted you could do. |
| 2078 | Mai lou i ka ʻulu i luna lilo, o lou hewa i ka ʻaʻai ʻole; eia nō ka ʻulu i ke alo. | Do not hook the breadfruit away up above lest you hook an imperfect one; take the one in front of you. |
| | [Why reach afar for a mate? Choose one from among your own acquaintances] |
| 2082 | Mai paʻa i ka leo, he ʻole ka hea mai. | Do not withhold the voice and not call out [a welcome]. |
| | [From a password chant used in hula schools. It was often used by one who would like a friendly invitation to come into another’s home.] |
| 2098 | Makapaʻa ʻike ʻole i ka ʻope iʻa. | One-eyed person who does not see the bundle of fish. |
| | [Dried fish were rolled in ti leaves and hung up. When the leaves dried, they matched the color of the thatch of the house and often were not noticed at a glance.] |
| 2132 | “Māmā Hilo?” “ʻAe, māmā Hilo i ka wai ʻole.” | “Is Hilo light?” “ Yes, Hilo is light for lack of water.” |
| | [A question asked of a runner, and his reply. It means that the way is clear, with no robbers or unpleasant experiences, and no rains to swell the streams and make traveling difficult.] |
| 2142 | Mao ʻole ke kai o Mokupaoa. | Endlessly rough is the sea of Mokupaoa. |
| | [Endless bad luck. Mokupaoa means “Island of Misfortune.”] |
| 2156 | Miki ka ʻīlio kahu ʻole no ka hemahema. | Stray dogs will take what one neglects to care for. |
| | [When one is careless with his possessions, they may be stolen.] |
| 2161 | Moa kākala ʻole. | A spurless cock. |
| | [A weakling.] |
| 2175 | Moena hāunu ʻole o ka nahele. | Mat of the forest to which no strips are added in making. |
| | [Said of a bed made of fern, banana, or other leaves of the forest — one needs no strips of lauhala or other material to make a mat.] |
| 2196 | Mū ka waha heahea ʻole. | Silent is the mouth of the inhospitable. |
| | [It is considered rude not to call a welcome (heahea) to anyone approaching one’s home.] |
| 1655 | Ka wai kumu ʻole. | The water without source. |
| | [Kawaihāpai, Oʻahu. A drought once came there in ancient times and drove out everyone except two aged priests. Instead of going with the others, they remained to plead with their gods for relief. One day they saw a cloud approaching from the ocean. It passed over their house to the cliff behind. They heard a splash and when they ran to look, they found water. Because it was brought there by a cloud in answer to their prayers, the place was renamed Ka-wai-hāpai (The-carried-water) and the water supply was named Ka-wai-kumu-ʻole (Water-without-a-source).] |
| 2216 | Nāhiku kōʻalaʻala ʻole. | [A man of] Nāhiku quickly departed, taking nothing with him. |
| | [Said of one who has left too abruptly.] |
| 2220 | Nā ʻilina wai ʻole o Kohala. | The waterless plains of Kohala, where water will not remain long. |
| | [After a downpour, the people look even in the hollows of rocks for the precious water.] |
| 2282 | Nā ʻOle ka pō, ʻo nā ʻOle ke ao, he ʻole ka loaʻa. | The nights are ʻOle, the days are ʻOle — nothing to be gotten. |
| | [The tide is high in the ʻOle period and no fish are caught.] |
| 2301 | Na wai hoʻi ka ʻole o ke akamai, he alanui i maʻa i ka hele ʻia e oʻu mau mākua? | Why shouldnʻt I know, when it is a road often traveled by my parents ? |
| | [Reply of Liholiho when someone praised his wisdom.] |
| 2406 | ʻO ka huhiā ʻino ka mea e ola ʻole ai. | Rage is a thing that does not produce life. |
| 2436 | ʻO ka poʻe hulilau ʻole o hope. | Those with no large gourd calabashes in the back. |
| | [Those with no wives at home.] |
| 2451 | ʻO ke aliʻi lilo i ka leʻaleʻa a mālama ʻole i ke kanaka me ke kapu akua, ʻaʻole ia he aliʻi e kū ai i ka moku. | The chief who is taken with pleasure-seeking and cares not for the welfare of the people or the observation of the kapu of the gods, is not the chief who will become a ruler. |
| | [Said by Kekūhaupiʻo to Kamehameha. Advice to young people that success comes not by seeking idle pleasure but by living up to one’s beliefs and caring for the welfare of others.] |
| 2463 | ʻO ke kū hoe akamai nō ia, he piʻipiʻi kai ʻole ma ka ʻaoʻao. | That is the way of a skilled paddler — the sea does not wash in on the sides. |
| | [Said of a deft lover.] |
| 2474 | ʻO Kulu ka pō, o Welehu ka malama, he lā iʻa ʻole. | Kulu is the night and Welehu the month; no fish is to be found that day. |
| | [A play on kulu (drop). Welehu was said to be the month on which to lay the head on the pillow, for the sea was too rough for fishing. Hence an unlucky, unprofitable day.] |
| 2480 | Ola i ka ʻai uahi ʻole o ke kini o Mānā. | The inhahitants of Mānā live on food cooked without smoking. |
| | [Said of the people of Mānā, Kauaʻi, who in ancient days did very little poi-making, except in a place like Kolo, where taro was grown. The majority of the inhabitants were fishermen and gourd cultivators whose products were traded with other inhabitants of the island, even as far as Kalalau. Because all the taro cooking and poi-making was done elsewhere, the people of Mānā were said to live on “smokeless food.”] |
| 2487 | Ola nā ʻilima wai ʻole i ke ao ʻōpua. | Healed are the ʻilima of waterless places by the rain cloud. |
| 2492 | ʻOla nō ka mea akua, make nō ka mea akua ʻole. | He who has a god lives; he who has none, dies. |
| | [A god was regarded as a helper and protector of his devotee.] |
| 2528 | ʻO ʻole wale mā. | Just nothing and his company. |
| | [A comment about another’s idea — it is nothing and still more nothing.] |
| 2554 | Paʻa ʻia iho i ka hoe uli i ʻole e īkā i ke koʻa. | Hold the steering paddle steady to keep from striking the rock. |
| | [Hold on; donʻt let yourself get into trouble.] |
| 2561 | Paʻa nō ka ʻaihue i ka ʻole. | A thief persists in denying his guilt. |
| | [A thief is also a liar.] |
| 2602 | Papani ka uka o Kapela; puaʻi hānono wai ʻole o Kukaniloko; pakī hunahuna ʻole o Holoholokū; ʻaʻohe mea nāna e ʻaʻe paepae kapu o Līloa. | Close the upland of Kapela; no red water gushes from Kukaniloko; not a particle issues from Holoholokū; there is none to step over the sacred platform of Līloa. |
| | [The old chiefs and their sacredness are gone; the descendants are no longer laid to rest at Ka-pela-kapu-o-Kakaʻe at ʻīao; the descendants no longer point to Kukaniloko on Oʻahu and Holoholokū on Kauaʻi as the sacred birthplaces; there is no one to tread on the sacred places in Waipiʻo, Hawaiʻi, where Līloa once dwelt.] |
| 2613 | Pau ʻole ka ʻepa iā Hawaiʻi. | Endless is the strange behavior of those of Hawaii. |
| | [An expression of humor or annoyance used in old newspapers whenever Hawaiians criticized one another.] |
| 2615 | Pau ʻole nō ka ʻumeke i kekahi, pau ʻole nō ka lemu i ka hāleu. | When one does not clean the sides of the poi bowl properly he is not likely to wipe his backside clean after excreting. |
| 2660 | Pipili i ka hana makamaka ʻole, hoʻokahi nō makamaka o ke kaunu a ka manaʻo. | Sticks to the work in which friends are ignored; only one friend is considered, the desire of the heart. |
| | [Said of one who is in love and pays no attention to anyone except the object of his affection.] |
| 2705 | Pūʻali kalo i ka wai ʻole. | Taro, for lack of water, grows misshapen. |
| | [For lack of care one may become ill.] |
| 2709 | Pūanuanu ka hale noho ʻole ʻia e ke kanaka. | Cold is an uninhabited house. |
| | [Said of an empty house, which lacks the warmth of love, or of the body after life is gone.] |
| 2785 | Ua hiki ʻole ka ihu o ka puaʻa ke ʻeku a peu. | The snout of the hog can no longer root and prod. |
| | [Said of a man who has lost his sexual potency.] |
| 2835 | Ua noi i ke ao ua ʻole. | Asked a rainless cloud. |
| | [Asked a favor of a hard person who refused to grant it. First uttered by Hi’iaka, who asked two surly lizard gods to permit her and her friends to cross Wailuku River in Hilo. The request was refused and battle was offered instead.] |