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Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

hei tāna

1. he said, she said, according to her, according to him, she considered, he considered.

Hei tāna, ko te rīhi me te whakangao tonu atu i ngā moni rīhi a ngā kaiwhaipānga, kia mahia ai ngā whenua, whakamimiti hoki i te whakapau hua kore noa iho i ngā moni (TTR 1994:11). / He considered that leasing, together with the investment of the rent of the shareholders, would produce development and diminish the squandering of the money.

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Synonyms: e ai ki a [ia] ...

e hoki oti te hūare ki te waha

1. will spit return to the mouth? what’s said is said, what’s done is done, it’s no use crying over spilt milk - an idiom also used to caution someone to be careful what they say or do.

hei konei rā

1. goodbye (said to someone staying).

e noho rā

1. goodbye (said to someone staying), farewell, bye, bye-bye.

(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 12;)

hei konā rā

1. goodbye (said to someone staying).

haere rā

1. (interjection) goodbye (said to someone leaving), farewell! bye, bye-bye.

Takoto mai, e koro, kia tangihia koe e ō iwi. Auē! Ka mau te punga here o te waka nei. Ka ngaro koe, te kaihautū, te kākākura o roto i te pōkai, te puhi o Aotearoa, te kura whakahirahira o Te Waipounamu, te mauri o te whenua, te mauri o te tangata, haere! Haere rā! (TP 7/1906:9) / Lie in state, sir, to be wept over by your people. Oh, dear! The anchor of this canoe is taken. You are gone, the fugleman, the leader of the flock, the adored one of the North Island, the important treasure of the South Island, the life force of the land and the people. Depart! Farewell!

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e ai ki [ngā] kōrero

1. (particle) according to hearsay, according to accounts, it is said that.

E ai ki te kōrero nō te tau 1852 pea a Tuakana i whānau ai (TTR 1994:3). / According to hearsay Tuakana was born in about 1852.

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Haumu

1. (location) place at Te Rerenga-wairua - a hillock where the wairua is said to stop and look back to the place where they can look back on the country where their friends are still living. Also said to leave a whakaau, a token of the spirit having rested there on its way to Te Reinga.

Haumu: Ki ētahi whakahua he puke, ki ētahi he one. Kei Te Rerenga-wairua, e whakahuatia ana i roto i ngā kupu mihi ki te tūpāpaku, i ngā tangi apakura hoki (M 2007:18). / Haumu: To some it is a hillock, to others a beach. It is at Te Rerenga-wairua and is mentioned in eulogies to the dead and in laments.
Haere atu, e pā! Haere ki Paerau, takahia atu te one ki Haumu, hoatu ki ērā tini i te pō! (TP 7/1906:9). / Farewell, sir! Go to Paerau, and travel along the beach to Haumu, and go on to the multitude in the world of the dead!

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e poko

1. bloody bugger - an expression that can be used in a serious manner as an insult or in jest, depending on who says it, how it’s said and the context it’s said in.

Tangata 1: E aha ana koe? Tangara 2: Hei aha tāu! Ehakē i a koe ngā rori! Tangata 1: Kai a te kurī! Tangata 2: E poko! Tō tero hoki! (HKKT 1/2011:8). / Person 1: What are you up to? Person 2: Never mind yours! You don’t own the roads. Person 1: You so and so! Person 2: You bloody bugger! Up yours!

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manatawa

1. (noun) a black kernel of a tawa berry said to be found in the crops of kākā which have flown here from Hawaiki.

Kai hea taku manatawa, taku manapou? He kupu whakahau ēnei mō te hunga kua taka ki roto i te waimeha o te whakaaro, ki te anuhea o te ngākau, ki te ngoikore o te tinana (Tikanga 1997:49). / Where is my manatawa and my manapou? These are words of encouragement for people who have become lackadaisical, unenthusiastic and listless.

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1. (interjection) now, now then - used at the beginning of a particular stage of a narrative to call attention, to explain what has been said previously, etc. May also be pronounced with a short vowel, i.e. na.

(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 127-128;)

, whakarongo ki te Pirimia. / Now, listen to the Prime Minister.

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Synonyms: tēnā, tēnā ina, tēnā koa, i nāianei, āianei, ināianei, iāianā, e, i nāia nei, nāianei

nōhea

1. never, not on your life, there's no way, not on your nelly, not a hope in hell - used as an emphatic negative, sometimes with hoki added. Sometimes used to indicate that the speaker does not believe what someone has said. Usually written as one word for this idiomatic meaning, but sometimes as two words, i.e. nō hea.

(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 52;)

Nōhea koe e hiahia ki te mōhio ki tērā tangata weriweri. / There's no way you would want to know that horrible man.
Pare: E kare, i kitea anō he tāne i te kanikani hei whakatika i ō pera i ngā pō? Rangi: Nōhea hoki! (HKK 1999:62). / Pare: My friend, did you find a man at the dance to smooth your pillows at night? Rangi: Not a hope in hell!
Pare: Kāore au mō te haere ki roto i te ngahere, kei hopukina au e te pouākai. Rangi: Nōhea hoki tāu? Kua mate noa atu tēnā manu (HKK 1999:62). / Pare: I won't go into the forest in case I am caught by the pouākai bird. Rangi: You won't? But that bird died out long ago.

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See also nōwhea

Synonyms: he aha hoki, e, nōwhea, tōu ene, weta, kāhore kau, hore rawa, hore kau, rawa

noho ake rā

1. goodbye (said to someone not leaving).

noho mai rā

1. goodbye (said to someone not leaving).

nōwhea

1. (particle) never, not on your life, there's no way, not on your nelly, not a hope in hell - used as an emphatic negative, sometimes with hoki added. Sometimes used to indicate that the speaker does not believe what someone has said. Usually written as one word for this idiomatic meaning, but sometimes as two words, i.e. nō whea. Variation of nōhea.

Ka mea atu rātou ki a ia, “Aua hoki! Nōwhea mātou e kite? Kei runga rānei, kei raro rānei, kei tawhiti atu rānei i a tātou?” (NM 1928:6). / They said to him, "We don't know! How could we ever find out? Is it to the south, the north or a great distance from us?"

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See also nōhea

Synonyms: e, he aha hoki, tōu ene, nōhea, weta, kāhore kau, hore rawa, hore kau, rawa

[ō] raho!

1. go away! get lost! be gone! - a curse that is used to show disdain for the actions or statements of others implying that they would be advised not to comment. Only said to, or about, a man.

Rangi: Kei te mea mai a Wara rāua ko tana tama e hē ana tā tātou mahi. Pare: Ō rāua raho (HKK 1999:94). / Rangi: Wara and his son are saying that we're doing our job incorrectly. Pare: They can get lost.

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taea

1. (verb) to be able, accomplished, possible - although this word derives from tae and its passive ending -a, it has developed a feature distinct from the normal passive construction, in that the action of which someone is said to be capable is preceded by te and no preposition. Unlike other verbs in the passive which do not take a passive ending when following me, taea may occur after me. If taea is modified by a base and/or a particle, which would normally take a passive ending after a verb in the passive, then that base or particle also has a passive ending (usually -tia).

(Te Kākano Textbook (Ed. 2): 75-76;)

Ka taea ēnei kōrero e ia te tuhi. / He is able to write down this account.
Kīhai i oti i a ia tana tohu paetahi; ahakoa i taea ngāwaritia noatia e ia te nuinga o ngā mahi (TTR 1996:66). / He did not complete his BA; although he was able to do most of his subjects quite easily.

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See also tae, tareka

Synonyms: kaha, tare, āhei, waewae kai pakiaka, tareka, kei a [koe] mō te ..., toa, ringa rehe, Kei a ... mō te ..., riwha

[tō] tara!

1. a curse that is used to show disdain for the actions or statements of others, implying that they would be advised not to comment. Only said to, or about, a woman.

noho iho rā

1. goodbye (said to someone not leaving).

Maukahau

1. (location) Maukahau - a place below the horizon where Matariki (Pleiades) disappears to at the end of the Māori year. Matariki was said to visit four places, each for seven nights. The first place visited was to Maukahau.

E whā ngā kāinga e haeretia ana e Matariki: (1) Maukahau, e whitu ngā pō; (2) Tārarau-ātea, e whitu ngā pō; (3) Papa-whakatangitangi, e whitu ngā pō; (4) Tītore-māhu-tū, e whitu ngā pō (TTT 1/5/1922:14). / There are four homes that the Pleiades travels to: (1) Maukahau, for seven nights; (2) Tārarau-ātea, for seven nights; (3) Papa-whakatangitangi, for seven nights; and (4) Tītore-māhu-tū, for seven nights.

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See also Matariki

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