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.
Synonyms: engari (tonu)
mīharo
1. (verb) (-tia) to wonder at, admire.
Ko te tangata e tino mīharotia ana e te iwi Pākehā, ko taua momo tangata mātau, e hoki nei ōna whakaaro ki te hāpai i te iwi nui tonu (TTT 1/7/1927:615). / The person who is really admired by the Pākehā people is the type of expert who uses his ideas to the benefit of the general population.
2. (modifier) marvellous, amazing.
Ko te mea mīharo o roto i tēnei karaunatanga a te tangata Māori i tō tāua nei kīngi, kāore i whakawahia ki te hinu, engari he mea hoatu he Paipera ki runga i tōna māhunga (TP 11/1912:6). / The amazing thing of this coronation of a Māori of our king was that he wasn't anointed with oil but a Bible was placed on his head.
Synonyms: ka kino te haere, kātuarehe, pai mutunga, māharo, whakaharahara
3. (noun) amazement, astonishment, admiration.
Uru rawa atu Kuki ki te mātakitaki i taua pā whawhai, me tōna mīharo ki te mātauranga o te Māori ki te hanga i ōna pā whawhai (TWK 19:22). / Cook went right inside to inspect that fighting pā and he was amazed at the knowledge Māori had in building their forts.
2. (adjective) be extraordinary, exceptional, remarkable, amazing, incredible.
He maha ngā hāora i riri ai aua Pākehā torutoru nei, he inati te māia! (TWMNT 19/5/1874:122). / For many hours the few British fought and how extraordinary their bravery was!
Synonyms: taumata rau, tapatapahi ana, hautupua, whakaharahara, hautipua
3. (adjective) be excessive, monstrous, unwarranted, extreme.
Nō te tekau tau mai i 1940, ka whakaae te kāwanatanga he inati rawa te whiunga i a Te Whakatōhea (TTR 1990:60). / In the 1940s the government admitted that the punishment of Te Whakatōhea had been excessive.
4. (noun) trouble, disaster.
Weherua rawa ake ka puta tā rātou inati - te tukunga mai, kore rawa i rikarika, ka tāhurihuri, he mate - koia Maikukutea, ka mate ki Mōtītī (JPS 1893:225). / At exactly midnight their disaster occurred - the result was many were in trouble and died - that was Maikukutea, the defeat at Mōtītī.
aeha
1. (interjection) bah! blast! damn! gosh! gee whiz! heavens above! amazing! good grief! goodness gracious! - an exclamation denoting contempt, wonder, annoyance, etc.
Kātahi ka rere taua autaia nei. Aeha! Me te aha? Me te uira ka hiko i te rangi tōna rite o te haere. Kīhai i mau i te kanohi te hopu te āhua o ngā otaota me ngā rākau o taua whenua i te tere o te haere o taua rerewē (TWMNT 19/5/1874:138). / Then that amazing contraption sped on. Amazing! What was it like? It travelled like the lightning in the heavens. The eye could not catch the appearance of the vegetation and the trees of the land, such was the speed of the train.
2. (adjective) be pretty good, not too bad - a colloquialism used to say that a person, or something a person has done, is good or quite good and perhaps better than expected.
He autaia tonu te kōhine rā ki te kōrero Māori. / The girl over there is pretty good at speaking Māori.
3. (modifier) pretty good, not too bad.
Arā anō ētahi tāngata autaia nei te matatau ki te reo (HM 2/1994:3). / There are some other people who are pretty fluent in the language.
Synonyms: nanakia, tōna [pai] nei
4. (modifier) difficult, troublesome - when used before a noun.
Ko ngā taitamariki tonu i kaha ki te whakawai i ō rātou pakeke ki te hokohoko i ō rātou whenua. Ka noho kino te iwi. Tautohetohe tonu ngā tamariki ki ngā pakeke. Ko Rāniera Te Iho-o-te-rangi rāua ko Te Mānihera Te Rangi-taka-i-waho me te tama anō hoki a Te Hiko, me Wī Tāmehana ngā autaia totohe nei (TTR 1990:190) / It was the younger youths who urged their elders to sell their lands. This caused conflict amongst the tribe. The children argued with the elders. Rāniera Te Iho-o-te-rangi and Te Mānihera Te Rangi-taka-i-waho along with Te Hiko's son, Wī Tamehana, were involved in this troublesome dispute.
5. (noun) fellow, bloke, guy, chap, tricky character - sometimes implies a sense of mischief.
I reira ngā koroheke o Taranaki e kōhumuhumu, e tūmatakuru ana ki te whakahīhī rawa o te autaia nei, kei te tamariki tonu ka tū ki te marae o te Kīngi (TTR 2000:30). / There the Taranaki elders were whispering and in consternation at the arrogance of this bloke, who was still a child daring to stand on the King’s marae.
6. (noun) amazing contraption, wondrous sight, extraordinary thing - a term used for something strange, unusual, unfamiliar or awesome. Sometimes a sense of humour is involved in the use of the term.
Katahi ka rere taua autaia nei. Aeha! Me te aha? Me te uira ka hiko i te rangi tōna rite o te haere. Kīhai i mau i te kanohi te hopu te āhua o ngā otaota me ngā rākau o taua whenua i te tere o te haere o taua rerewē (TWMNT 19/5/1874:138). / Then that amazing contraption sped on. Amazing! What was it like? It travelled like the lightning in the heavens. The eye could not catch the appearance of the vegetation and the trees of the land, such was the speed of the train.
[te] hia
1. I'm surprised, it's surprising, fancy that, I'm amazed - an idiom to express surprise that something was achieved despite the difficulty of the task.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 235-236;)
Te hia reka o te kai nei! (W 1971:48). / How delicious this food is! (W 1971:48).
Te hia oti i a ia te mahi (HKK 1999:127). / I'm amazed that she's finished the work.
Tō hia kite kē mai i te mea moroiti nei. / I'm surprised you can see this minute thing.
whakamīharo
1. (verb) (-tia) to admire, wonder at.
Ko te wahine tēnei i whakamīharotia nuitia e ngā Pākehā katoa o te tāone, he ngāwari nōna, he pai, he aroha ki te hunga rawa kore (TWM 10/6/1865:1). / This woman was admired greatly by all the Pākehā of the town because she was pleasant, kind and compassionate to the poor.
2. (modifier) be amazing, astonishing, wonderful, surprising.
He kararehe whakamīharo te raiona, te arewhana, te ēkara (TTT 1/8/1925:272). / The lion, elephant and eagle are amazing animals.
3. (noun) admiration, wonderment.
I te karangatanga o tētehi hui i Te Kūiti hei whiriwhiri i te tautohenga o Ngāti Maniapoto me tētehi mana whakahaere ā-rohe mō ngā rēti, nui ana te whakamīharo o Āpirana Ngata ki te pai o te āhua o Pei (TTR 1998:70). / At a meeting at Te Kuiti called to discuss a rating dispute that had arisen between Ngāti Maniapoto and a local body, Pei Te Hurinui made a considerable impression on Āpirana Ngata.
māharo
1. (verb) (-tia) to wonder at, admire.
See also mīharo
2. (modifier) marvellous, amazing.
Synonyms: ka kino te haere, kātuarehe, mīharo, pai mutunga, whakaharahara
3. (noun) amazement, astonishment, admiration.
Ka nui te māharo o ngā iwi nā rātou nei i patu a Ureia (JPS 1946:34). / Great was the amazement of the people who had killed Ureia.
kimikimi
1. (verb) (-hia) to seek, look for, search for, seek out, hunt for (of a number of people).
Ko ngā tamariki pēpe e moemoe ana i taua wā kātahi ka whakaarahia, ka pōkaikaha noa iho rātau ki te kimikimi i ō rātau pūtu me ō rātau kahu mahana, i te mea e rere ana te puaheiri i taua wā, me te hau hoki e pupuhi ana (TPH 10/1/1906:3). / The young children were asleep at that time when they were made to get up and they hurriedly looked for their boots and warm clothes because the snow was falling and the wind blowing.
Synonyms: pōrangi, ārohi, whai, whakarapu, rapa, rapurapu, raparapa, haha, rapu, hāhau, takitaki, puretumu, rangahau, kimi, hīnana
2. way-out, way off-beam, fanciful, figment of the imagination, made-up, amazingly stupid, full of hot air, putting it on, pretender - used idiomatically to state that what someone has said is untrue, is an unlikely reason or is pure speculation. It sometimes implies that the person's response is not taking the question seriously or that somebody has plucked an idea out of the air.
I kī mai a Mihi i takea mai a Ngāi Tahu i Te Taitokerau. Tēnā kimikimi! I heke kē mai rātou i Te Tai Rāwhiti. / Mihi said that Ngāi Tahu originated from Northland. What a way-out story. They actually migrated from the East Coast.
[te] hia kore
1. I'm surprised, I'm amazed - an idiom to express surprise that something did not happen. It is often a criticism.
Tō hia kore i whakamā! / I'm surprised you weren't embarrassed!
Te hia kore i pātai atu. / I'm surprised you didn't ask.
Te teitei mārika o ngā hū o tēnā nā. Te hia kore kē nei e takoki te waewae (HKK 1999:127). / How high the shoes of that one are. I'm surprised she doesn't sprain her ankle.
Tō rāua hia kore e puta ake ki te poroporoaki i tō rāua rangatira (HKK 1999:83). / It's surprising that they didn't appear at the farewell of their leader.
2. (verb) to chirp, chatter, cackle - of birds.
Koekoe ai te tūī, ketekete ai te kākā. / The tūī chatters and the kākā cackles.
Synonyms: kotokoto
3. (verb) to be annoyed, disappointed, frustrated, astonished.
Kotahi ia te mea e ketekete nei mātou ko te iti o te witi e kawea mai ana (MM.TKM 30/6/1859:6). / But there is one thing that we are disappointed about and that is the small amount of wheat being brought here.
4. (noun) astonishment, amazement, consternation.
Ka kī koe i te haurangi, i te pōuri, i te kapu o te ketekete, o te whakangaromanga, i te kapu a tōu tuakana, a Hamaria (PT Ehekiera 23:33). / Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
5. (noun) chattering - of the teeth from the cold.
Ko te ketekete o ngā niho tētahi tino tohu o te kōpiri, o te werohia e te mātao (HJ 2017:28). / The chattering of the teeth is an important sign of the effect of the piercing cold.
ehara i te hanga
1. it's not something insignificant, it's no ordinary thing, it's pretty amazing - used as an expression to comment on something that is impressive.
Ehara i te hanga! Harawiniwini ana taku kiri i te mātao. / It's pretty unusual! I'm shivering from the cold.
Haere te pū repo, haere te pū Māori nei anō, ehara i te hanga ake! Ngateri ana te whenua i te tangi o te pū! (TWM 28/5/1864:3). / The cannons went off and so did the Māori guns, it was amazing! The ground shook from the noise of the guns!
e [tama] (mā) (e)
1. good heavens boy! good heavens! far out! for goodness sake! goodness me! oh dear - used with terms of address (e.g. tama, kui, tama, hine, koro, hoa, hika, etc.) this idiom has many variations but, with the appropriate intonation, can be used to show surprise, amazement, disbelief, disagreement, dislike of an activity, disappointment, or support. The optional second e strengthens the meaning, while mā is always used when the idiom applies to more than one person and it may be used when not applying it to a person.
Heoi anō, i tētahi o ngā kāinga i patapataihia e au i Te Waiharakeke, ka pātōtō atu, nō te huakanga mai, e tama, ko taku tungāne tonu tērā e tū mai ana i te kūaha! (HKK 1999:119). / However, at one of the homes that I was interviewing at at Te Waiharakeke, I knocked on the door and when it opened, goodness me, it was my own brother standing there at the door!
Pare: Mīere katoa te tīma poikiri o Argentina i te tīma Wīwī. Rangi: E hoa mā e! (HKK 1999:119). / Pare: Argentina's soccer team was thrashed by the French team. Rangi: Good heavens!
E ta, me aroha atu ngā tāngata pērā (HKK 1999:121). / Oh dear, we must feel sorry for people like that.
See also e hika
Synonyms: auē taukuri ē
āta koia
1. (interjection) well! you don't say! really! indeed! - an idiom expressing surprise or amazement.
(Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 43;)
Synonyms: i nei, e kī (e kī), i nei
kātahi rā hoki
1. how astounding, how astonishing, good grief, heavens above, goodness gracious - an exclamation to express disapproval or amazement about an unusual idea or activity.
See also kātahi rā/hoki
ehara (tonu)!
1. (negative) heavens above! surprise surprise! of course! for sure! - an idiom that expresses amazement. It can also be used to emphasise affirmative sentences.
Kotahi atu te meke a Hani, ehara, kei raro te hoariri e putu ana. / Sonny made one punch and, surprise surprise, the opponent was down in a heap.
Synonyms: engari (tonu)
e kī (e kī)
1. (interjection) you don't say! is that right! well, well! really! get you! - an expression of surprise, amazement or anger at what has been heard or seen. Sometimes as e kī rā.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 106; Te Pihinga Audio Tapes/CDs (Ed. 2): exercise 40; Te Kōhure Textbook (Ed. 2): 220;)
E kī, kua oti tō tuhinga whakapae i a koe te tuhi! / Is that right, you've finished writing your thesis!
