| 63 | Aia ma kahi hāiki. | Is in a nanow place. |
| | [Said of an unborn infant. No plans are made for it until puka na maka i ke ao (the eyes are seen in the daylight).] |
| 197 | ʻAʻohe o kahi nānā o luna o ka pali; iho mai a lalo nei; ʻike i ke au nui ke au iki, he alo a he alo. | The top of the cliff isnt the place to look at us; come down here and learn of the big and little current, face to face. |
| | [Learn the details. Also, an invitation to discuss something. Said by Pele to Pāʻoa when he came to seek the lava-encased remains of his friend Lohiʻau.] |
| 271 | E hahai ana nō ke kolekole i kahi nui a ka wahie, a e hahai ana no ke ʻino i kahi nui o ka paʻakai. | Underdone meat follows along even where wood is plentiful, and decomposition follows along even where much salt is found. |
| | [Even where good is found, evil creeps in.] |
| 306 | Eia nō kahi koe o ka moamoa. | Here is the only space left, the moamoa. |
| | [Said when offering a small space or seat to a friend when every other place is occupied. As Paʻao was leaving from Kahiki with a canoe filled to capacity, a priest, Makuakaumana, called out, asking to come along. He was offered the only available space — the sharp point at the stem of the canoe, the moamoa.] |
| 372 | E piʻi ana kahi poʻe, e iho ana kahi poʻe. | Some folks go up, some go down. |
| | [While the fingers of some are in the poi bowl, the fingers of others are at the mouth.] |
| 554 | He ʻauwai ka manaʻo o nā aliʻi, ʻaʻohe maopopo kahi e kahe ai. | The minds of chiefs are like a ditch — no one knows whither they flow. |
| | [No one knows whom or what the chiefs will favor.] |
| 596 | He hua kahi. | A single seed. |
| | [An only child.] |
| 693 | He kiʻi ke kanaka noho wale o kahi aliʻi. | Only an image sits [and does no work] in the household of a chief. |
| | [In the house of a chief, everybody but the chief himself works.] |
| 708 | He kū kahi au, he wauke no Kūloli. | I stand alone, for I am a wauke plant of Kūloli. |
| | [A boast — “Like the lone wauke plant of Kūloli, I stand alone in my battles.” At Kūloli, in Kona, Hawaiʻi, grew a lone wauke plant around which none other grew.] |
| 754 | Hele nō ka pilau a ke ālia, i kahi nui o ka paʻakai. | Decomposition can also he found where there is so much salt that the earth is encrusted. |
| | [Scandal is found even in the best of families.] |
| 812 | He mea ʻai ʻia kahi pilipili maunu kāpae ʻia. | The bit of bait set to one side is edible still. |
| | [A man or woman who has been the mate of another can still be a good mate to have.] |
| 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. |
| 910 | He pōloli kali ko kahi o nā aliʻi. | At the place of a chief one must wait for hunger to be appeased. |
| | [One must abide by the will and favor of the chief. No one is independent in his presence.] |
| 949 | He ʻiāhini ka iʻa o kahi maloʻo. | The locust is the meat of dry places. |
| | [Said of a type of locust, now extinct, that was easy to catch and much eaten when fish were scarce.] |
| 1033 | Hoʻi i Waolani i kahi o ka ʻeʻepa. | Go to Waolani where the supernatural beings dwell. |
| | [Said to one who can’t be fathomed. It is the equivalent of, “Go and join your peculiar kind of people.” Waolani, in Nuʻuanu, Oʻahu, was once the home of gods, menehune, Nāwā (Noisy beings), Nāmū (Silent beings), and all manner of disgruntled, misshapen, and joyous characters who were grouped under the term ʻeʻepa.] |
| 1045 | Hoʻi pūʻolo nō o kahi aliʻi. | One returns with a bundle from the place of the chief. |
| | [When one visits the home of a generous chief, one always receives a gift.] |
| 1070 | Hoʻokahi mea manaʻo nui a ka ʻōhua o ka hale: ʻo kahi mea mai ka lima mai o ke aliʻi. | There is one thing all members of the household look to: whatever they are given by the hands of the chief. |
| | [All members of the chief’s household are dependent on him.] |
| 1102 | Hoʻomoe wai kahi ke kāoʻo. | Let all travel together like water flowing in one direction. |
| 1165 | I hoʻokahi kahi ke aloha. | Be one in love. |
| | [Be united in the bond of affection.] |
| 1176 | I kahi ʻē ka malia, hana i ka makau. | While fair weather is still far away, make your fishhooks. |
| | [Be prepared.] |
| 1177 | I kahi ʻē nō ke kumu mokihana, paoa ʻē nō ʻoneʻi i ke ʻala. | Although the mokihana tree is at a distance, its fragrance reaches here. |
| | [Although a person is far away, the tales of his good deeds come to us.] |
| 1308 | Kahi keiki maʻi lewalewa. | Small child with dangling penis. |
| | [A term of ridicule for a small boy who acts like a grownup. Until a boy was old enough to enter the mua (men’s eating house), he wore no malo.] |
| 1667 | Ka wohi kū kahi. | A chief of the wohi rank, most outstanding. |
| | [Often used in referring to Kalākaua.] |
| 1697 | Ke hina ke uahi ma kahi ʻaoʻao he mea mākole ko ia ʻaoʻao. | When the smoke falls on one side, someone on that side will feel a smarting of the eyes. |
| | [Where strong words fall, feelings are hurt.] |
| 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.] |
| 1866 | Kuhikuhi kahi lima i luna, hāpapa kahi lima i lalo. | One hand points upward, the other gropes downward. |
| | [Said of a religious leader who teaches others to seek heavenly wealth while he himself seeks worldly possessions.] |
| 1883 | Kuʻikuʻi, hana pele; holo i uka, holo i kai, holo i kahi e peʻe ai a nalo. | Pound, pound, pulverize; run mountainward, run seaward, run till you find a hiding place and hide. |
| | [The chant used in hide-and-go-seek. One child gently pounds the back of the “master” and repeats this chant while the other children run and hide.] |
| 1927 | Kūpihipihi loa kahi koena ʻopihi. | The remaining limpets have dwindled in size. |
| | [A modern saying — the finances have dwindled considerably.] |
| 1947 | Lana ka ʻauwae i kahi hāiki. | The chin floated in a narrow place. |
| | [He barely escaped.] |
| 2068 | Mai ka uka a ke kai, mai kahi pae a kahi pae o Kaʻū, he hoʻokahi nō ʻohana. | From the upland to the sea, from end to end of Kaʻū, there is only one family. |
| | [The inhabitants of old Kaʻū were of one family.] |
| 2089 | Ma kahi maea ma laila ka nalo e wā ai. | Where the odor is bad, there the flies hum. |
| | [Scandal-mongers delight in “dirt.”] |
| 2090 | Ma kahi o ka hana he ola ma laila. | Where work is, there is life. |
| 2091 | Ma kahi o ka makani e pā ai, ma laila ka uahi e hina ai. | Where the wind blows, there the smoke falls. |
| | [Where the chief commands, the subjects go.] |
| 2223 | Na kahi ka malo, na kahi e hume. | The loincloth of one, the other can wear. |
| | [A close relationship. As a general rule, Hawaiians would not wear the clothing of people other than blood relatives. In explaining genealogy to a young relative, this conveyed the idea that a relationship was near enough to warrant the wearing of each other’s clothing.] |
| 2332 | No kahi ka pilikia, pau a pau. | When one is in trouble, all [give aid]. |
| 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).] |
| 2438 | ʻO ka pono o kahi aliʻi o ka mikimiki me ka ʻeleu. | The thing to do at the court of the chief is to do work and do it effciently. |
| | [Those who serve their chiefs must do their work quickly and well.] |
| 2453 | ʻO ke aloha ke kuleana o kahi malihini. | Love is the host in strange lands. |
| | [In old Hawaiʻi, every passerby was greeted and offered food whether he was an acquaintance or a total stranger.] |
| 2490 | ʻOla nō ka lawaiʻa i kahi poʻo maunu. | A fisherman can subsist on his left-over bait. |
| | [Bait made from octopus heart was carefully prepared and kept in a clean container. When a fisherman had no luck in fishing, the bait was eaten with poi.] |
| 2491 | ʻOla nō ka mahiʻai i kahi kūʻōʻō. | A farmer can subsist on small, broken potatoes. |
| | [As long as there are potatoes, even small or broken ones, a farmer gets along.] |
| 2523 | ʻOno kahi ʻao luʻau me ke aloha pū. | A little taro green is delicious when love is present. |
| | [Even the plainest fare is delicious when there is love.] |
| 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.] |
| 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.”] |
| 2557 | Paʻa kahi hope i ka malo. | The rear is covered with a malo. |
| | [Said of a boy about five or six years old. Prior to this age, a boy ate with the women in their eating house and wore no clothing, but when he was old enough to join the men in theirs, he wore a malo, just as they did.] |
| 2691 | Poʻohū ka lae kahi i ka pōhue. | When the forehead lumps, rub it with a gourd. |
| | [Find the remedy for the problem.] |
| 2806 | Ua kū i kahi hāiki. | Standing in a narrow place. |
| | [Said of one in a precarious position.] |