| 22 | Ahuwale nā pali kahakai o Kamilo. | Exposed are the sea cliffs at Kamilo Beach. |
| | [Said of a woman who sits carelessly and exposes herself. Kamilo Beach is in Kaʻū.] |
| 64 | ʻAi a manō, ʻaʻohe nānā i kumu pali. | When the shark eats, he never troubles to look toward the foot of the cliff. |
| | [Said of a person who eats voraciously with no thought of those who provided the food, shows no appreciation for what has been done for him, nor has a care for the morrow.] |
| 164 | ʻAʻohe kio pōhaku nalo i ke alo pali. | On the slope of a cliff, not one jutting rock is hidden from sight. |
| | [All is distinctly seen or known; there isn’t any use in being secretive or finding a place to hide.] |
| 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.] |
| 288 | E hoʻi nā keiki oki uaua o nā pali. | Home go the very tough lads of the hills. |
| | [These lads of the hills were the cowboys of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa and Puʻuanahulu, who were well known for their endurance.] |
| 438 | Hāmākua ʻāina pali loa. | Hāmākua, land of tall cliffs. |
| | [Praise of Hāmākua, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 470 | Hanohano nā pali kiʻekiʻe o Wailau. | Majestic are the tall cliffs of Wailau. |
| | [An expression of admiration for a stately and regal person. Refers to Wailau, Molokaʻi.] |
| 696 | He koaʻe, manu o ka pali kahakō. | It is the koaʻe, bird of the sheer cliffs. |
| | [An expression of admiration for an outstanding person. The koaʻe build their nests on cliffs.] |
| 717 | He lālā kamahele no ka lāʻau kū i ka pali. | A far-reaching branch of the tree standing on the cliff. |
| | [A boast of a strong person who, like the tree on the cliff, can withstand gales and pouring rain.] |
| 768 | He lōʻihi ʻo ʻEwa; he pali ʻo Nuʻuanu; he kula ʻo Kulaokahuʻa; he hiki mai koe. | ʻEwa is a long way off; Nuuanu is a cliff; Kulaokahu a is a dry plain; but all will be here before long. |
| | [Said of an unkept promise of food, fish, etc. Oʻahu was once peopled by evil beings who invited canoe travelers ashore with promises of food and other things. When the travelers asked when these things were coming, this was the reply. When the visitors were fast asleep at night, the evil ones would creep in and kill them.] |
| 879 | He pali lele a koaʻe. | A cliff reached only by tropic birds. |
| | [Said of a high chief or of a hill too steep to climb.] |
| 880 | He pali mania nā aliʻi. | The chiefs are like sheer cliffs. |
| | [The chiefs are not easily approached.] |
| 881 | He pali nui ka make e hoʻokaʻawale ana. | Death is a sheer cliff that separates. |
| | [Death divides the living from the dead.] |
| 902 | He pōhaku ʻolokaʻa pali o Kaholokuaiwa. | A stone that rolls down the precipice of Kaholokuaiwa. |
| | [Said when there is much ado and little accomplished.] |
| 1002 | Hilo iki, pali ʻeleʻele. | Little Hilo of the dark cliffs. |
| | [Hilo-pali-kū, or Hilo-of-the-standing-cliffs, is always green because of the rain and mists.] |
| 1004 | Hilo, mai Mawae a ka pali o Maulua. | Hilo, from Mawae to the cliff of Maulua. |
| | [The extent of the Hilo district is from Mawae on the Puna side to Maulua on the Hāmākua side.] |
| 1011 | Hiolo ka pali kū, nahā ka pali paʻa. | The standing precipice falls, the solid clff breaks. |
| | [The resistance is broken down at last.] |
| 1091 | Hoʻolalau ka helena i Kualoa, piʻi ana i ka pali o Kānehoalani. | In wandering about Kualoa, he ascends the cliff of Kānehoalani. |
| | [He goes off his course and thereby gets nothing. On the cliff of Kānehoalani stands a phallic stone, a symbol of bad luck when seen in a dream.] |
| 1193 | I ka pali nō ka hoa a hele, kalakala ke kua i ka ʻopeʻope. | The companion stays up on the hill and then goes, the back roughened by the load. |
| | [Said of one who keeps at a distance and departs. Also said of luck that stays away like a disinterested friend, carrying its load of fortune away with it. This was first uttered by Lohiʻau in a chant when he failed to make a score in kilu.] |
| 1296 | Ka hana a ke aloha, he kohu mūheʻe i ke alo pali. | The action of a lover is like that of a squid at the face of a precipice. |
| | [A squid is said to be a creature that goes every which way. A squid-like lover is not to be trusted.] |
| 1358 | Ka iʻa lamalama i ka pali. | The fish caught by torching along the seacoast. |
| | [The ʻaʻama, a crab that is often caught at night by torching along the rocky shore.] |
| 1365 | Ka iʻa leo nui o ka pali. | Loud-voiced fish of the cliffs. |
| | [Goats, which were pursued by shouting hunters.] |
| 1380 | Ka iʻa uahi a holo i ka pali. | The fish pursued by running after them on the hills. |
| | [Goats.] |
| 1408 | Kaino paha he pali nui o Kīpū e ʻōlelo ia nei, eia kā he pali iki nō. | By the way it is talked about, one would think that Kīpū is a large cliff, but instead it is only a small one. |
| | [By the way people talked the task sounded difficult, but it was easy after all. Kīpū is on Kauaʻi.] |
| 1473 | Ka malu ao o nā pali kapu o Kakaʻe. | The cloud shelter of the sacred cliffs of Kakaʻe. |
| | [Kakaʻe, an ancient ruler of Maui, was buried in ʻīao Valley, and the place was given his name. It was known as Na-pali-kapu-o-Kakaʻe (Kakaʻe’s Sacred Precipice) or Na-pela-kapu-o-Kakaʻe (Kakaʻe’s Sacred Flesh). Since that time, many high chiefs have shared his burial place.] |
| 1498 | Kani ke ʻō, he ihona pali. | One may shout with joy, as this is a going downhill. |
| | [The hard work is over; from here on all is easy.] |
| 1526 | Ka pali hinahina o Kāʻanapali. | The gray hills of Kāʻanapali. |
| 1527 | Ka pali kahakō lele a koaʻe. | Sheer cliff reached only by the tropic bird. |
| | [A tall, inaccessible cliff.] |
| 1528 | Ka pali kāʻili wahine o Kēʻē. | The wife-snatching cliff of Kēʻē. |
| | [Once upon a time some men of Kēʻē, Kauaʻi, fell in love with the wives of some Nuʻalolo men. They climbed the ladder up to Nualolo, threatened the men there, and departed with their wives.] |
| 1529 | Ka pali kāohi kumu aliʻi o ʻĪao. | The cliff of ʻĪao that embraces the chiefly sources. |
| | [ʻĪao, Maui, was the burial place of many chiefs of high rank who are the ancestors of living chiefs.] |
| 1530 | Ka pali kapu o Kamohoaliʻi. | The sacred cliff of Kamohoaliʻi. |
| | [This cliff, at the crater of Kīlauea, is sacred to Kamohoaliʻi, brother of Pele. Smoke from the pit never swept over this cliff, even when the wind blew against it. Instead, the smoke rose directly upward due to the great respect Pele had for this beloved brother.] |
| 1531 | Ka pali nānā uhu kaʻi o Makapuʻu. | The uhu-observing cliff of Makapuʻu. |
| | [The sea surrounding Makapuʻu Point, Oʻahu, is the favorite haunt of the uhu (parrotfish).] |
| 1532 | Ka pali ʻō ahi o Makana. | The firebrand-hurling of the cliff of Makana. |
| | [Pāpala or hau wood was cut, thoroughly dried, and carried up the hillside to where an imu lay ready to be lighted. When dusk descended, the imu was lighted and the logs placed in it. When the blowing of the wind was just right, the lighted log was hurled into the wind and borne seaward, high over the heads of the spectators, before dropping into the sea.] |
| 1533 | Ka pali walowalo hea kanaka o Mōlīlele. | The eerie man-calling cliff of Mōlīlele. |
| | [Mōlī-lele (Mōlī’s Leap), in Kaʻū, is the place where an unhappy girl named Mōlī once leaped over the cliff in suicide. On each anniversary of her death the gale there blows a little harder than usual, and a person standing at the point from which she jumped can hear a rushing sound, as of a tapa-clad person running by.] |
| 1589 | Ka ua nihi pali o Moelana. | The rain that sneaks along the cliffs at Moelana. |
| | [The rain at Moelana, below the Nuʻuanu Pali.] |
| 1619 | Kaulana ka pali o Pōhina. | Famous is the pali of Pohina. |
| | [From a chant for the chiefess Maukaʻa of Kaʻū.] |
| 1670 | Ke ahu a Kaunuohua i kaulu pali. | The heap of Kaunuohua on the slope of the cliff. |
| | [A humorous reference to the scrotum.] |
| 1675 | Ke alanui pali o ʻAʻalaloa. | The cliff trail of ʻAʻalaloa. |
| | [A well-known trail from Wailuku to Lahaina.] |
| 1749 | Ke koaʻe iho ia, he manu lele no ka pali kahakō. | That is the tropic hird, one that flies at the sheer cliffs. |
| | [Said of a person who is hard to catch.] |
| 1750 | Ke koaʻe lele kaha i ka pali o Līloa. | The tropic bird that soars to the cliff of Līloa. |
| | [Said of a chief of high rank.] |
| 1796 | Kīkaha ka ʻiwa i nā pali. | The ʻiwa hird soars over the cliff. |
| | [Said of a well-dressed person.] |
| 1918 | Kū mai nō, he pali. | There it stands, a cliff. |
| | [Said in admiration of a handsome person who, like a cliff, attracts the attention.] |
| 1924 | Kū pākū ka pali o Nihoa i ka makani. | The clff of Nihoa stands as a resistance against the wind. |
| | [Said of one who stands bravely in the face of misfortune.] |
| 1930 | Kūpopou ana i ka pali o Kēʻē. | Going downhill at the cliff of Kēʻē. |
| | [A play on kē (to object) and ʻe (elsewhere). Said of one who is not cooperative.] |
| 1984 | Lele kōheoheo i ka pali o Kapaheo. | Plummeting from the cliff of Kapaheo. |
| | [A Kaʻū saying and a play on heo (quickly gone).] |
| 1985 | Lele Laukī i ka pali. | Laukī leaped off the cliff. |
| | [Said when one in desperation does harm to himself. Laukl was a native of Puna who was ashamed after being derided about his small penis, so he committed suicide by leaping off a cliff. Sometimes applied humorously to one who has lost his sexual potency.] |
| 2074 | Mai kolohe i ka moʻo o lele i ka pali. | Do not bother lizards or youll fall off a cliff. |
| | [A warning not to bother lizards lest someday the moʻo cause a madness that makes one leap off a cliff and die.] |
| 2190 | Molale loa nō kumu pali o Kalalau. | Clearly seen is the base of Kalalau cliff. |
| | [It is obvious that one is way off the subject. A play on lalau (to wander, err).] |
| 2284 | Nā pali alo lua o Waipiʻo. | Cliffs of Waipiʻo that face each other. |
| | [Said of Waipiʻo, Hawaiʻi.] |
| 2285 | Nā pali hāuliuli o ke Koʻolau. | The dark hills of Koʻolau. |
| | [The hills and cliffs of the windward side of O’ahu are always dark and beautiful with trees and shrubs.] |
| 2286 | Nā pali kinikini o Kahakuloa. | The multitudinous cliffs of Kahakuloa. |
| | [Refers to Kahakuloa, Maui.] |
| 2287 | Nāpelepele nā pali o Kalalau i ka wili a ka makani. | Weakened are the cliffs of Kalalau in being buffeted by the wind. |
| | [Said of one who is worn out.] |
| 2384 | ʻO ia mau nō i ke alo pali. | Ever the same before the face of the cliff. |
| | [Just the same as ever.] |
| 2394 | ʻO ka ʻaʻama holo pali pōhaku, e paʻa ana ia i ka ʻahele pulu niu. | The crab that runs about on a rocky cliff will surely be caught with a snare of coconut fibers. |
| | [He who goes where he tempts trouble is bound to suffer.] |
| 2465 | ʻOki kilohana ka pali o Waialoha. | Straight and tall is the cliff of Waialoha. |
| | [Said in admiration of a tall, well-formed person.] |
| 2595 | Pali ke kua, mahina ke alo. | Back [as straight] as a cliff, face as bright as the moon. |
| | [Said of a good-looking person.] |
| 2607 | Pau ka pali, hala ka luʻuluʻu kaumaha. | The cliff is now passed and with it the burden of difficulty. |
| 2639 | Piʻi mai nei i ka pali me he ʻaʻama lā. | Climbs the cliff like a black crab. |
| | [Said of one who goes beyond his limit.] |
| 2735 | Pulelo ke ahi haʻaheo i nā pali. | The firebrand soars proudly over the cliffs. |
| | [An expression of triumph. Referring to the firebrand hurling of Kauaʻi, or to the glow of volcanic fire on Hawaiʻi.] |
| 2765 | Puʻupuʻu lei pali i ka ʻāʻī. | An imperfect lei, beautifed by wearing. |
| | [Even an imperfect lei looks beautiful when worn around the neck — as beautiful as flowers and greenery on the slope of a hill.] |
| 2809 | Ua laʻi ka nohona i ke alo pali. | There is tranquility before the face of the cliff. |
| | [Perfect peace.] |
| 2866 | Uliuli kai pali o Kahikinui, kokolo mai ka ʻohu he ʻino. | Dark are the sea cliffs of Kahikinui; when the mists creep, it is a sign of a storm. |
| | [Trouble is approaching. This is taken from a chant in the legend of Pāmano, who saw his own death approaching.] |
| 2904 | Waiehu, mai ka pali o Kapulehua a ka pali o ʻAʻalaloa. | Waiehu, from the cliff of Kapulehua to the cliff of ʻAʻalaloa. |
| | [The boundaries of the district of Waiehu, Maui.] |