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Historical loan words

Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

wehi

1. (verb) (-ngia) to be awesome, afraid, fear.

Ko te take tuatoru i kore ai te Maori e tohu taonga he wehi nō te Maori kei kīia ia he hākere, he matapiko, he kaiponu (TP 7/1907:4). / The third reason that the Māori would not accumulate possessions is the fear that they might be said to be stingy, mean and covetous.

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See also ka mau te wehi!


2. (verb) to be terrible.

Ka wehi ngā kākahu o te wahine rā, tāwekoweko ana (W 1971:407). / The clothes of that woman are terrible, they're quite ragged.

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3. (noun) dread, fear, something awesome, a response of awe in reaction to ihi.

He mea whakairo hoki, he mea kōwhaiwhai, he mea tukutuku, hei pupuri i te ātanga, i te wehi, i te haratau o ērā taonga a ō tātau tīpuna i roto i tēnei o ngā whare o te Atua (TTT 1/12/1925:336). / And it was carved and decorated with rafter paintings and lattice-work to retain the beauty, awesomeness and relevance of those treasures of our ancestors in this particular house of God.

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ngārara wehi

1. (noun) leather-leaf fern, Pyrrosia eleagnifolia - scrambling or climbing native fern with thick and leathery, tongue-like fronds from almost round to long and strap-like. Undersides pale and downy. Edges curled under. Common on trees and rocks in native forest and exposed coast.

wehi nā

1. oh my goodness, oh my god, that's amazing - an idiom to express amazement and surprise at something.

Pare: I whiwhi tohu te tamaiti a Kahu i te whakataetae Manu Kōrero. Rangi: Wehi nā,/b>! Ko tērā he tamaiti nohopuku i te nuinga o te wā (HKK 1999:118). / Pare: Kahu's son obtained an award at the Manu Kōrero speech competitions. Rangi: That's amazing! That's a boy who is silent most of the time.

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Synonyms: engari (tonu)

ka mau te wehi!

1. (interjection) how terrible! how terrific! fantastic! awesome! how frightening - often used to praise something or someone's work. Sometimes also used to express the opposite or to express awe, amazement or fear.

(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 106; Te Pihinga Audio Tapes/CDs (Ed. 2): exercise 40; Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 196;)

Ka mau te wehi o ngā waituhi a Ralph Hōtere. / Ralph Hōtere's paintings are fantastic.

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E kore tōku kiri e wehi i te taraongaonga

1. A retort against mocking, teasing, namecalling, and the like. To suggest that you are strong against verbal mockery. Similar to, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me".

Translation / My skin will not be iritated by the stinging nettle.

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