| 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).] |
| 118 | ʻAno kaikoʻo lalo o Kealahula, ua puhia ke ʻala ma Puahinahina. | It is somewhat rough down at Kealahula, for the fragrance [of seaweed] is being wafted hither from the direction of Puahinahina. |
| | [There is a disturbance over there, and we are noticing signs of it here. The breeze carries the smell of seaweed when the water is rough.] |
| 181 | ʻAʻohe ma mua, ʻaʻohe ma hope, ʻaʻohe i ka ʻākau, ʻaʻohe i ka hema. | Nothing before, nothing behind, nothing at the right, nothing at the left. |
| | [Utter, absolute poverty.] |
| 187 | ʻAʻohe mea koe ma kūʻono. | Nothing remains in the corners. |
| | [Said of one who is extremely generous, giving freely without reservation.] |
| 222 | ʻAʻole e ʻike ʻia ke kākala o ka moa ma kāna ʻoʻō ʻana. | One cannot tell by his crowing what the cock’s spur can do. |
| | [One cannot judge by his bragging what a person can really do.] |
| 223 | ʻAʻole e kū ka ikaika i kēia pākela nui; ke pōʻai mai nei ka ʻohu ma uka, ma kai, ma ʻō a ma ʻaneʻi. | One cannot show his strength against such odds; the rain clouds are circling from the upland, the lowland, and from all sides. |
| | [Said by Maheleana, a warrior of Kualiʻi, when he saw his small company surrounded by the enemy.] |
| 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. |
| 277 | E hea i ke kanaka e komo ma loko e hānai ai a hewa ka waha. | Call to the person to enter; feed him until he can take no more. |
| | [Originally a reply to a password into a hula school. Used later in songs and in speech to extend hospitality.] |
| 311 | E ʻimi i ke ola ma waho. | Seek life outside. |
| | [Consult a kahuna to see what is causing the delay in healing. Said when a person lies sick, and recovery is slow.] |
| 362 | E noho ma lalo o ka lāʻau maka, iho mai ka huihui, māʻona ka ʻōpū. | Sit under a green tree. When the cluster comes down, the stomach is filled. |
| | [Serve a worthy person. When your reward comes you will never be hungry.] |
| 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.] |
| 456 | Hānai puaʻa wahine, ma loko ka uku. | Raise a sow, for her reward is inside of her. |
| | [A sow will bear young.] |
| 467 | Hānau ke aliʻi i loko o Holoholokū, he aliʻi nui; hānau ke kanaka i loko o Holoholokū, he aliʻi nō; hānau ke aliʻi ma waho aʻe o Holoholokū, ʻaʻohe aliʻi, he kanaka ia. | The child of a chief born in Holoholokū is a high chief; the child of a commoner born in Holoholokū is a chief; the child of a chief born outside of the borders of Holoholokū is a commoner. |
| | [Holoholokū, sacred birthplace of the chiefs, is in Wailua, Kauaʻi.] |
| 565 | He hamo hulu puna ma waho. | A brushing on the outside with whitewash. |
| | [A friendly exterior only.] |
| 575 | He hiʻi alo ua milimili ʻia i ke alo, ua hāʻawe ʻia ma ke kua, ua lei ʻia ma ka ʻāʻī. | A beloved one, fondled in the arms, carried on the back, whose arms have gone ahout the neck as a lei. Said of a beloved child. |
| 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.] |
| 773 | He lono ma mua, he kulina ma hope; kulikuli wale ka makani o Kaʻū! | Report went first, heedlessness followed; what a din the wind of Kaʻū raised! |
| | [From a chant for Kaumualiʻi of Kauaʻi.] |
| 797 | He mamo paha na ka poʻe o Kahuwā he maʻa i ka hoe ma ke kūnihi. | Perhaps they are descendants of the people of Kahuwā who were in the habit of paddling with the edge of the paddle blade. |
| | [They are stupid people who never do things right.] |
| 912 | He pono ka pākiko ma mua o ka hoʻokelakela wale aku. | Better to be economical than too liberal. |
| 984 | Hihia ka ʻōpae ma ka ʻumiʻumi. | The shrimp is entangled by the feelers. |
| | [Like a shrimp whose feelers are entangled by some weeds trailing in the water, so is a person who is caught in an affair he cannot get out of.] |
| 987 | Hiʻikua waha ka ʻopeʻope, hiʻi ke keiki ma ke alo, uē ʻalalā i ka nahele. | A bundle borne on the back, a baby in the arms, wailing in the forest. |
| | [Said of mothers fleeing in terror.] |
| 990 | Hiki mai ka lā ma Haʻehaʻe, ma luna mai o Kukiʻi. | The sun rises at Haʻehaʻe, above Kukiʻi. |
| | [Haʻehaʻe, in Puna, Hawaiʻi, is often called the gateway of the sun. Kukiʻi is a place in Puna.] |
| 1089 | Hoʻolaʻi maka ma waho, ʻoʻoleʻa loko. | A friendly face outside, a hardness inside. |
| | [A hypocrite.] |
| 1109 | Hoʻopau maunu i ka iʻa liʻiliʻi; e kiʻi nō ma ka iʻa nunui. | A waste of bait to go for the small fish; go for the big ones. |
| 1206 | ʻIke ʻia aʻe nō ma ka huluhulu kau i ka puka ihu. | Attention is paid only to the hairs of the nostrils. |
| | [Attention is paid to the favored few whom one does not like to offend.] |
| 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.] |
| 1381 | Ka iʻa uahi nui o ka ʻāina; o ka iʻa ma luna, o ka ʻai ma lalo. | The many smoky fish of the land; with the fish ahove and the vegetable food beneath. |
| | [This refers not to any particular fish or meat but to anything that is cooked in an imu. When lighted, the imu is smoky until the stones redden and the wood is reduced to coals.] |
| 1524 | Kapakahi ka lā ma Waiʻanae. | Lopsided is the sun at Waiʻanae. |
| | [Used to refer to anything lopsided, crooked, or not right. First uttered by Hiʻiaka in a rebuke to Lohiʻau and Wahineʻōmaʻo for talking when she warned them not to.] |
| 1625 | Ka ulu lāʻau ma kai. | The forest on the seaward side. |
| | [Refers to the masts of the ships that came the harbors of Lahaina or Honolulu.] |
| 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.] |
| 1873 | Kū i ka hāiki, ʻaʻole ma mua, ʻaʻole ma hope. | Stands in a narrnow space until nothing before and nothing behind. |
| | [Said of one who has nothing to fall back on and no one to help.] |
| 1919 | Kū ma ka pā o Homa. | Stood by the fence of Homa. |
| | [Standing in the way of disappointment. A Mr. Oliver Holmes (“Homa” to the Hawaiians) lived at Polelewa in Honolulu. A play on homa (disappointment).] |
| 2065 | Mai kāpae i ke aʻo a ka makua, aia he ola ma laila. | Do not set aside the teachings of one’s parents for there is life there. |
| 2066 | Mai ka piko o ke poʻo a ka poli o ka wāwae, a laʻa ma nā kihi ʻehā o ke kino. | From the crown of the head to the soles of the feet, and the four corners of the body. |
| | [An expression used in prayers of healing. The four corners are the shoulders and hips; between them are the vital organs of the body.] |
| 2088 | Ma ka hana ka ʻike. | In working one learns. |
| 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.] |
| 2114 | Ma Koʻolau e ʻōlelo ai, he lohe ma Kona. | Words spoken on the windward side are heard on the leeward side. |
| | [Said of anything spoken that travels very quickly through the land.] |
| 2116 | Ma lalo aku au o ko leo. | I will be under your voice. |
| | [I will obey you in all you command.] |
| 2127 | Ma loko o ka hale, hoʻopuka ʻia ka pili, a ma waho o ka hale, he haku ia. | Inside of the house you may mention your relationship, but outside of the house your chief is your lord. |
| | [Those who served the chief in his home were usually loyal blood relatives. From childhood they were taught not to discuss the relationship with anyone outside of the household, and always to refer to their chief as Kuu haku (My lord), never by any relationship term. Only the chief could mention a relationship if he chose.] |
| 2131 | Ma luna mai nei au o ka waʻa kaulua, he ʻumi ihu. | I came on a double canoe with ten prows. |
| | [I walked. The “double canoes” are one’s two feet and the “ten prows” are his toes.] |
| 2141 | Ma ʻō, ma ʻō ka uahi; mākole, mākole ma ʻaneʻi. | Yonder, yonder the smoke; here, over here, the infamed eyes. |
| | [Said of a person who takes a part against another and after winning, comes around to express friendship and sympathy.] |
| 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).] |
| 2346 | Nui ka ʻai ma ke kuahiwi, puʻu nō ka ʻai, ʻiʻo no ka iʻa. | There is much food in the mountain; puʻu is food and ʻiʻo is meat. |
| | [This was said by the Reverend David Lyman, a missionary, in 1857 when his pupils went with him to the mountain and complained of having no food for the journey — there was an abundance of hāpuʻu and hōʻiʻo ferns in the mountains.] |
| 2425 | ʻO ka manu ma luna, ʻo ia ma lalo. | The birds above, he below. |
| | [Said in admiration of one who travels with great speed — he equals the birds that fly in the sky.] |
| 2459 | ʻO ke kahua ma mua, ma hope ke kūkulu. | The site first, and then the building. |
| | [Learn all you can, then practice.] |
| 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.] |
| 2622 | Peʻe kua o Kaʻulahaimalama; o Kekūhaupiʻo ka makua; hilinaʻi aʻe i ka pale kai, kālele moku aʻe ma hope. | Kaʻulahaimalama is secretive; Kekūhaupiʻo (Stands-leaning) is her father; she leans against the canoe side and rests against the back of the canoe. |
| | [Said of one who tries to conceal the true offender by pretending to know nothing.] |
| 2652 | Pili ʻohā, he kamau mai ma waho. | A taro-offishoot relationship added to the outside of the corm. |
| | [One who was not a relative, yet is a member of the household.] |
| 2667 | Pōhai ka manu ma luna, he iʻa ko lalo. | When the birds circle above, there are fish below. |
| | [Strong words are a sign of wrath. Fishermen at sea watch where the noio birds gather, for that is a sign that the aku fish are near.] |
| 2730 | Puka ma ka ʻapua. | Escaped through the handle. |
| | [Said of one who barely escapes. Luhia, who was part lizard and part human, used to go outside of the houses of his neighbors to see what they were eating. When he found that they were to have ʻoʻopu fish cooked in ti leaves, he would wait until the flsh were ready to be eaten, then he would cry, “Escape through the handle, my brothers!” The place where the ti leaf bundle was tied would break open, and out would scamper lizards instead of ʻoʻopu fish, to the terror of those who were about to eat. The lizards would then run back to the streams and become ʻoʻopu fish again.] |
| 2843 | Ua paʻi a paʻi ma ka hana. | Equals in working. |
| 2895 | Wae ʻia aʻela ma ka liko, koe no ka lāʻele. | Only the leafbuds are selected and the coarse leaves left behind. |
| | [Only the select few were invited.] |
| 2920 | Wawā ka menehune i Puʻukapele ma Kauaʻi, puoho ka manu o ka loko o Kawainui ma Oʻahu. | The shouts of the menehune on Puukapele on Kauai startled the birds of Kawainui Pond on Oʻahu. |
| | [The menehune were once so numerous on Kaua’i that their shouting could be heard on O’ahu. Said of too much boisterous talking.] |
| 2922 | Wehe ʻia ma luna o Hīhīmanu. | Bared on the summit of Hīhīmanu. |
| | [A humorous reference to a person whose bald head is fringed with hair — like a bare mountaintop above a circle of mist.] |