| 28 | Aia aku nei paha i Kaiholena. | Perhaps gone to Kaiholena. |
| | [Perhaps gone to loaf somewhere. A play on lena (lazy).] |
| 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. |
| 138 | ʻAʻohe hale i piha i ka hoihoi; hāʻawi mai a lawe aku nō. | No house has a perpetual welcome; it is given and it is taken away. |
| | [A warning not to wear out one’s welcome.] |
| 145 | ʻAʻohe ia e loaʻa aku, he ulua kāpapa no ka moana. | He cannot be caught for he is an ulua fish of the deep ocean. |
| | [Said in admiration of a hero or warrior who will not give up without a struggle.] |
| 171 | ʻAʻohe lihi ʻike aku i ka nani o Punahoa. | Hasn’t known the beauty of Punahoa. |
| | [Used when the charms of a person or place are unknown. Punahoa is an unusually attractive place.] |
| 186 | ʻAʻohe mea koe aku iā Makaliʻi; pau nō ka liko me ka lāʻele. | Makaliʻi left nothing, taking [everything] from buds to old leaves. |
| | [Said of one who selfishly takes all, or of a lecherous person who takes those of the opposite sex of all ages. From a legend surrounding a chief, Makaliʻi, who took from his people until they faced starvation.] |
| 218 | Aʻo i ka hoʻopunipuni, aʻo aku nō i ka ʻaihue. | Learn to lie and the next thing will be to steal. |
| 265 | E ao o miki aku o Ka-ʻili-pehu. | Watch out or Swell-skin will get at you. |
| | [Beware lest you get a pummeling that will cause a swelling.] |
| 276 | E hana mua a paʻa ke kahua ma mua o ke aʻo ana aku iā haʻi. | Build yourself a firm foundation before teaching others. |
| 278 | E hele aku ana i ka māla a Kamehameha, o Kuahewa. | The proportion is reaching the size of Kuahewa, Kamehameha’s food patch. |
| | [The project is becoming too big. Kamehameha’s food patch was so huge that one border could not be seen from the other.] |
| 286 | E hoʻi ka waʻa; mai hoʻopaʻa aku i ka ʻino. | Make the canoe go back; do not insist on heading into a storm. |
| | [A plea not to do something or associate with someone that will lead to serious trouble.] |
| 315 | E kāmau iho i ka hoe a pae aku i ke kula. | Dip in the paddle till you reach the shore. |
| | [Keep dipping your finger into the poi until you’ve had your fill.] |
| 319 | E kaupē aku nō i ka hoe a kō mai. | Put forward the paddle and draw it back. |
| | [Go on with the task that is started and finish it.] |
| 321 | E kipi ana lākou nei. ʻAʻole naʻe ʻo lākou ponoʻī akā ʻo kā lākou mau keiki me nā moʻopuna. ʻO ke aliʻi e ola ana i ia wā e kū ʻōlohelohe ana ia, a ʻo ke aupuni e kūkulu ʻia aku ana, ʻo ia ke aupuni paʻa o Hawaiʻi nei. | These people [the missionaries] are going to rebel; not they themselves, but their children and grandchildren. The ruler at that time will be stripped of power, and the government established then will be the permanent government of Hawaiʻi. |
| | [Prophesied by David Malo.] |
| 324 | E kuhi aku ana i Kuhiau. | Pointing out Kuhiau. |
| | [You are making a mistake in your ideas. A play on kuhi (to point, to be mistaken). Kuhiau is a place on Kauaʻi.] |
| 327 | E lauhoe mai nā waʻa; i ke kā, i ka hoe; i ka hoe, i ke kā; pae aku i ka ʻāina. | Everybody paddle the canoes together; bail and paddle, paddle and bail, and the shore is reached. |
| | [Pitch in with a will, everybody, and the work is quickly done.] |
| 357 | E nānā mai a uhi kapa ʻeleʻele ia Maui, a kau ka puaʻa i ka nuku, kiʻi mai i ka ʻāina a lawe aku. | Watch until the black tapa cloth covers Maui and the sacrificial hog is offered, then come and take the land. |
| | [Said by Kahekili, ruler of Maui, to a messenger sent by Kamehameha I with a question whether to have war or peace. Kahekili sent back this answer — “Wait until I am dead and all the rites performed, then invade and take the island of Maui.”] |
| 366 | E, ʻolohaka! I ke ʻehu nō o ka lāʻau pālau, kulana; hākālia nō a pāpā lāʻau aku o ka make nō ia. | Say! The person is hollow. With just the passing breeze of a brandished club, he falls. As soon as a spear touches him, he dies. |
| | [Said by Pupukea, a chief of Kaʻū, of Makakuikalani, chief of Maui, in an exchange of insults. Later commonly used to refer to weaklings.] |
| 370 | E pale lauʻī i ko akua ke hiki aku i Kona. | Place a shield of ti leaves before your god when you arrive in Kona. |
| | [A message sent by Kaʻahumanu to Liholiho requesting him to free the kapu of his god Kūkāʻilimoku. Kaʻahumanu was at that time striving to abolish the kapu system.] |
| 375 | E pū paʻakai aku a paʻa ka houpo. | Take a bit of salt till the diaphragm is solid. |
| | [Said by one whose fare is humble, consisting mostly of poi with salt or kukui relish. “Eat till you are satisfied of this humble fare.”] |
| 434 | Hālō aku ma ʻō, he maka helei; kiʻei mai ma ʻaneʻi, he ʻoʻopa. | Peer over there and there is someone with a drawn-down eyelid; peep over here and here is a lame one. |
| | [No matter which way one turns there is a sign of bad luck.] |
| 435 | Haluku ka ʻai a ke aku. | The aku rush to eat. |
| | [Said of those who boisterously rush to eat.] |
| 454 | Hana ʻino i ka ke kino ʻelemakule a hoʻomakua aku i ka haʻi. | Mistreat your own oldsters and the day may come when youll be caringfor someone else’s. |
| | [Said to a rude or ungrateful child. You should think of your own elder first, while he is alive, lest after his death you must take care of someone who had no part in rearing you.] |
| 508 | He aha aku nei kau i Konahuanui? | What were you at Konahuanui for? |
| | [To dream of seeing the private parts exposed is a sign that there will be no luck on the following day.] |
| 524 | He ala ʻehu aku kēnā. | That is an uncertain path. |
| 545 | He ʻaʻo ka manu noho i ka lua, ʻaʻole e loaʻa i ka lima ke nao aku. | It is an ʻaʻo, a bird that lives in a burrow and cannot he caught even when the arm is thrust into the hole. |
| | [Said of a person who is too smart to be caught.] |
| 550 | He au Koʻolau aku ia. | That is Koʻolau weather. |
| | [The Koʻolau, or windward, side of an island is often storm-beaten. This expression was first used in a chant to Hiʻiaka by Wahineʻomaʻo, who pleaded with her not to let her wrath lead to destruction. Later used as a warning that headstrong wilfulness leads to distress.] |
| 650 | He kaha luʻu ke ala, mai hoʻokolo aku. | The trail leads to a diving place; do not follow after. |
| | [A warning to leave well enough alone.] |
| 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.] |
| 731 | Hele aku nei e ʻimi i ka ʻiliʻili hānau o Kōloa. | Went to seek the pebbles that give birth at Kōloa. |
| | [Said of one who goes and forgets to come home. These pebbles were found at a small beach called Kōloa, in Punaluʻu, Kaʻū.] |
| 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.] |
| 842 | He nohona huikau, noho aku a noho mai. | A life of confusion, living this way and that. |
| | [Referring to promiscuous people who share each other’s mates.] |
| 857 | He ʻoi wale aku nō ʻo Huaʻā. | Great indeed was Huaʻā. |
| | [A sarcasm. Huaʻā was a chief of Puna on Hawaiʻi. When the chief of another district threatened to war against him, he hastily sent word to Kamehameha for protection. The latter ordered the war-minded chief to cease his threats.] |
| 873 | He pā ʻai ʻia, ke piʻi ala ke aku. | It is a good mother-of-pearl hook, for the aku fish are coming up. |
| | [Said of an attractive person who has no trouble attracting the opposite sex, or of a lucky person who never fails to get what he wants.] |
| 912 | He pono ka pākiko ma mua o ka hoʻokelakela wale aku. | Better to be economical than too liberal. |
| 1065 | Hoʻokaʻawale i ka ʻōʻō mai ka lima aku. | [To] take the digging stick out of the hand. |
| | [To deprive someone of work.] |
| 1086 | Hoʻokolo aku i ka nui manu. | Go inquire of the other birds. |
| | [Go and consult others. From the following story: One day a man went up to a mountain spring for water. On the way down he paused to rest, then fell asleep. An ʻelepaio lighted and, seeing the man’s gourd bottle, pecked a hole in the gourd. The sound of the pecking woke the man, who saw the water running out. In anger he threw a stone at the ʻelepaio and injured its leg. It flew away and met an ʻio. “O! ʻIo, I was stoned by a man,” ʻElepaio cried. “What did you do?” asked ʻIo. “Pecked the man’s bottle.” “Then the fault is yours,” answered ʻIo. ʻElepaio flew on and met Pueo. The same words were exchanged between them. So it was with ʻIʻiwi, ʻŌʻō, and all the others. ʻElepaio’s disgust grew greater with ʻAmakihi, who laughed at him in derision. Receiving no sympathy, ʻElepaio sat and thought and finally admitted to himself that he, indeed, was to blame.] |
| 1101 | Hoʻomau ʻia aku, wahi a ka nūpepa. | To be continued, according to the newspaper. |
| | [Many Hawaiian newspaper articles were continued from week to week. This was said of anything put off to be finished later.] |
| 1127 | Hui aku, hui mai, hui kalo me ka nāwao. | Mixed there, mixed here, all mixed together are the cultivated and the wild taros. |
| | [Said of a great mix-up.] |
| 1128 | Hui aku na maka i Kou. | The faces will meet in Kou. |
| | [We will all meet there. Kou (now central Honolulu) was the place where the chiefs played games, and people came from everywhere to watch.] |
| 1153 | I Halapē aku nei. | He has been to Halapē. |
| | [He’s drunk. A play on pē (gone under) in Halapē, a place at the Puna-Kaʻū boundary.] |
| 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.] |
| 1181 | I ka hoʻolewa aku nei o Kuhelemai. | Attended the funeral of Kuhelemai. |
| | [A play on hoʻolewa (to lift) and kū hele mai (stand up and come), meaning that we stood up and lifted the beer down our throats. An expression used by the sweet-potato beer drinkers of Lahaina, Maui.] |
| 1195 | I ka pono kau i nā waha, mai noho a pehi wale aku. | Those who put into the mouth need not throw stones. |
| | [The mouths that eat the food should never revile the producers.] |
| 1200 | ʻIke aku, ʻike mai, kōkua aku kōkua mai; pēlā ihola ka nohona ʻohana. | Recognize and he recognized, help and he helped; such is family life. |
| | [Family life requires an exchange of mutual help and recognition.] |
| 1242 | I noho ʻoukou a i pae mai he waʻa o Kahiki-makolena, hopu ʻoukou a paʻa; o ke kahuna ia ʻaʻohe e ʻeha ka ʻili ʻoiai no Kahiki aku ana ka ʻāina. | If sometime in the future a canoe from Kahiki-makolena arrives, grasp and hold fast to it. There is the kahuna for you, and your skins will never more he hurt [in war],for the land will someday he owned hy Kahiki. |
| | [A prophecy uttered by Kaleikuahulu to Kaʻahumanu and her sisters as he was dying. Foreign priests (missionaries) will come. Accept their teachings.] |
| 1500 | Ka nīoi aku ia e welawela ai ko nuku. | That is the chili pepper that will burn your lips. |
| | [Said of one whose lovemaking is like the fiery taste of peppers. It’s long remembered.] |
| 1790 | Kiʻi ʻia aku ko ʻai i kiʻona. | Go and recover your food from the dung heap. |
| | [Said in disgust and anger to one who complains of the amount of food another has eaten, or of the number of times another has eaten one’s food.] |
| 1826 | Kōlea aku i ka ʻohana. | Cry “Plover!” in seeking one’s kinfolk. |
| | [Names are family possessions. In seeking one’s unknown kin, repeat the family names until they are found.] |
| 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.] |
| 1967 | Leʻaleʻa ka ʻōlelo i ka pohu aku o loko. | Conversation is pleasant when the inside is calm. |
| | [Talk is pleasant when hunger is satisfied.] |
| 2042 | Mai ʻena i ke kanaka i laka aku. | Do not shy away from a person who is attracted to you. |
| | [Treat him who comes in kindness with kindness.] |
| 2045 | Mai hana wale aku, he niho. | Do not annoy [him, for] he has teeth. |
| | [Do not tamper with him, for he knows the art of sorcery.] |
| 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.] |
| 2047 | Mai hele kīkaha aku. | Don’t go a-strutting there. |
| | [Don’t give yourself to ways that are offensive to others.] |
| 2049 | Mai hōʻaʻano aku o loaʻa i ka niho. | Don’t go daring others lest [you] be caught between the teeth. |
| 2064 | Mai ka ʻōʻili ʻana a ka lā i Kumukahi a ka lā iho aku i ka mole ʻolu o Lehua. | From the appearance of the sun at Kumukahi till its descent beyond the pleasant base of Lehua. |
| | [From the sunrise at Kumukahi, in Puna, Hawaiʻi, to the sunset beyond the islet of Lehua.] |
| 2085 | Mai puni aku o hei i ka ʻupena a ka Lawakua. | Do not helieve it or youll he caught in the net of the Lawakua wind. |
| | [Why believe all that? It is only wind.] |
| 2116 | Ma lalo aku au o ko leo. | I will be under your voice. |
| | [I will obey you in all you command.] |
| 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.] |
| 2265 | Nāna i waele mua i ke ala, ma hope aku mākou, nā pōkiʻi. | He [or she] first cleared the path and then we younger ones followed. |
| | [Said with affection and respect for the oldest sibling (hiapo).] |
| 2305 | Neʻe aku, neʻe mai ke one o Punahoa. | That way and this way shifts the sand of Punahoa. |
| | [Said of a group that divides, or of an undecided person who shifts one way and then another.] |
| 2361 | ʻOhi aku ka pō a koe kēia. | The night has taken all but this one. |
| | [All are dead; this is the only survivor.] |
| 2375 | ʻO Honuʻapo aku nō ia ʻo kahi o ka ʻahuʻawa. | That is Honuapo where the ʻahuʻawa grows. |
| | [A Kaʻū saying about disappointment. The ʻahuawa was much used as fiber for straining ʻawa. A play on hoka (to strain, to be disappointed).] |
| 2398 | ʻO ka ʻaui aku nō koe o ka lā. | The sun will soon go down. |
| | [Said of an aged person.] |
| 2413 | ʻO ka lāʻau o ke kula e noho ana i ka ʻāina, ʻo ka lāʻau o ka ʻāina e nalowale aku ana. | The trees of the plains will dwell on the land; the trees of the native land will vanish. |
| | [A prophecy uttered by Kalaunuiohua. Trees from the plains of other lands will grow here and our native trees will become extinct.] |
| 2439 | ʻO kapuahi aku ia a Uli. | That is Uli’s fireplace. |
| | [That is a place where a sorcerer may burn a personal possession of his chosen victim. Uli was a god to whom a sorcerer might appeal. This is a warning to watch out lest one run into sorcery.] |
| 2441 | ʻO kau aku, ʻo kā ia lā mai, pēlā ka nohona o ka ʻohana. | From you and from him — so lived the family. |
| | [The farmer gave to the fisherman, the fisherman to the farmer.] |
| 2455 | ʻO ke ao aku nō hoʻi koe, ʻaina ʻē ka hāuliuli. | It was almost day when the hāuliuli fish began to take the bait. |
| | [One was just about giving up hope when the person he was angling for showed some response.] |
| 2501 | ʻOloʻolo aku nō i hope, kū i ke aʻu. | Linger behind and he jabbed by the swordfish. |
| | [Better to advance with one’s companions than to stay behind and get into trouble.] |
| 2508 | ʻŌmaka ka iʻa, hōʻā aku ka lamalama i ka moana. | If the fish is the ʻōmaka, light the torches at sea. |
| | [The ʻōmaka is not a fighting fish and is easy to catch. Therefore one need not be prepared too soon and can afford to take time.] |
| 2546 | O Waiōhinu aku ia kahi o ka maiʻa pala. | That is Waiōhinu, where ripe bananas are. |
| | [A Kaʻū saying meaning that one is in for bad luck. To see bananas while on a fishing or business trip was an omen of failure. From the story of twin brothers who were climbing a hill. The stronger brother climbed on while the weaker one sat and cried. The older looked down and said “Cry, baby, cry! Go to Waiōhinu to eat ripe bananas.”] |
| 2553 | Paʻa aku i ka lani o kā ke akua ia, a hāʻule mai i lalo o kā Laiana ia. | What is held up in heaven is Godʻs, and what falls below is Lyonsʻs. |
| | [A reply made by the Reverend Lorenzo Lyons (Makua Laiana) when he was charged with being careless in accepting people as members of his church. He loved and accepted them and did not adhere rigidly to certain rules before allowing them to become members.] |
| 2596 | Pā mai, pā mai ka makani o Hilo; waiho aku i ka ipu iki, hō mai i ka ipu nui. | Blow, blow, O winds of Hilo, put away the small containers and give us the large one. |
| | [Laʻamaomao, the god of wind, was said to have a wind container called Ipu-a-Laʻamaomao. When one desires more wind to make the surf roll high, or a kite sail aloft, he makes this appeal.] |
| 2633 | Piʻi aku a kau i ka nuʻu. | Ascend and stand on the nuʻu. |
| | [Ascend to a place of honor. The nuʻu is a very kapu place reserved for certain chiefs.] |
| 2726 | Puka ka maka i waho, loaʻa ka hale kipa aku, kipa mai. | A [new] face appears out [of the mother], someday to be a host as all visit back and forth. |
| | [Said of the baby of a relative or friend — it will someday host visiting relatives.] |
| 2894 | Wae aku i ka lani. | Let the selecting be done in heaven. |
| | [Take life as it comes.] |