hei [a koe] (rawa) te kōrero
1. you can talk, she can talk, he can talk, who's she to talk like that - an idiom to suggest that someone is in no position to criticise because they are just as bad.
Rangi: Kei te kaha rawa te warea o Kaho ki tāna mahi. Pare: Hei a koe te kōrero! Kāore anō koe kia hararei noa mō ēnei tau e toru nei (HKK 1999:79). / Rangi: Kaho is too busy with his work. Pare: You can talk! You haven't had a holiday for the last three years.
Pare: E kī ana taku rangatira he nui rawa aku haere ki te hararei. Rangi: Hei tō rangatira rawa te kōrero pērā! (HKK 1999:79). / Pare: My boss says I go on holiday too much. Rangi: He can talk!
a koe rānei
1. get you, who are you to talk, you're one to talk, you can talk, talk about the pot calling the kettle black - an idiom used to respond to belittling or derogatory comments, the response suggesting that the accuser is actually worse than the person being criticised.
Pare: Kāore ō take ki te waiata. Rangi: A koe rānei! Nāu kē i hē ai te katoa (HKK 1999:80). / Pare: You're useless at singing. Rangi: Talk about calling the kettle black! It was you who put everybody wrong.
Pare: Kāore kē kōrua e haere ki tāwāhi? Rangi: Kāo, he mataku nō taku hoa ki te haere tawhiti i te kāinga. Pare: A koe rānei! Ko koe kē te kōkōmuka tū tara-ā-whare! (HKK 1999:80). / Pare: Won't you two go overseas? Rangi: No, because my mate is scared to go far from home. Pare: You can talk! You are the stay-at-home!
2. (adjective) beloved darling.
ngutungutu ahi
1. (intransitive verb) to make meaningless talk, rave, talk nonsense, delirious.
Ki te ngutungutu ahi te tūroro, me mātua mahi kia heke te wera o tōna tinana (HJ 2017:136). / If the patient is delirious, you must concentrate on reducing the body temperature.
See also kutukutu ahi
Synonyms: kutukutu ahi
2. (noun) delirium, raving, nonsense, meaningless talk, incessant grumbling, harping on a subject, drivel, gibberish, waffle.
Ko te take i pērā ai ko te kōrerotanga i ngā kōrero wairangi, arā pōrangi, he ngutungutu ahi (JPS 1929:48). / The reason that they did that was because of the irrational talk, that is she was demented, it was delirium.
See also kutukutu ahi
Synonyms: kohe, kutukutu ahi
murakehu
1. (verb) to talk to oneself, talk randomly, ramble.
Kāti rā ka hōhā koe ki ngā murakehu āku e huirapa nei i te kahu o te pepa (TTT 1/6/1922:14). / That's enough, because you will be tired of my rambling dominating the paper's content.
Synonyms: kōpiko, kaipaoe, kōpikopiko, ātiutiu, ngau, whakatīhohe, kaipāwe
kutukutu ahi
1. (verb) to make meaningless talk, rave, talk nonsense.
Anei e whai ake nei ētahi kōrero hei whakapati i te hunga whai mai i tā mātou e kutukutu ahi nei! Arā, ko ngā kōrero a Pou Tēmara mō te pūnaha ringapoto a Te Pēhi (HM 1/1993). / Here follows an account to titillate the people who follow our raving! That is, Pou Tēmara's account about Best's shorthand system.
Synonyms: ngutungutu ahi, tīhāhā, rūtā
2. (noun) delirium, raving, nonsense, meaningless talk, drivel, gibberish, waffle.
I ētahi wā i a au e pānui ana i ngā tuhituhinga reo Māori a tētahi o aku akonga, tē aro i a au āna kōrero, he kutukutu ahi. / Sometimes when I'm reading the writings in Māori of one of my students I have no idea what she's saying, it's nonsense.
Synonyms: ngutungutu ahi, kohe
3. (noun) incessant grumbling, harping on a subject.
Kāti te kutukutu ahi mo ōku hē (Ng 1993:196). / Stop harping on about my faults.
2. (modifier) unintelligibly, unintelligible.
Kāre hoki te tangata e mārama ki te waha kunanu (HKK 1999:110). / One won't understand an uninteligible person.
[māu] (rawa)/(hoki) te kōrero
1. talk about the pot calling the kettle black, you can talk - a kīwaha used to suggest that a person is much the same as the person that they are criticising.
Uru: Koinā te mate o tēnā tangata, kāore kau ana kōrero pai mō ētahi atu. Pare: Māu te kōrero! Heoi anō te mahi ka pahure i a koe i tēnei ata, he tātā i ētahi atu! (HJ 2012:32). / Uru: That' the problem with that person, he doesn't have anything good to say about others. Pare: You can talk! All you can do this morning is criticise others!
Rangi: Kāore a Pākere i pai ki a Komi, he Pākehā rawa nō tana āhua. Pare: Māna te kōrero! (HKK 1999:79). / Rangi: Pākere didn't like Komi, he was too much like a Pākehā. Pare: He can talk!
Uru: Ki tā rāua, he kaiponu tērā tangata. Pare: Mā rāua te kōrero! Ko rāua te mutunga kē mai o te kaiponu (HJ 2012:32). / Uru: According to those two, that man is a skinflint. Pare: They can talk! They're the ultimate in miserliness.
Aroha: Ki tā Piripi mā, he ngau tuarā anake te mahi ka pahure i a tāua. Huia: Mā rātou hoki te kōrero! / Aroha: According to Phillip and his mates, all you and I are good for is backbiting. Huia: They can talk!
waha kau
1. (noun) unreliable talk, rumour, empty talk.
E kōrerotia ana kai te hiahia a Waikato kia whakamātau ki te tango mai i ōna whenua kua riro i te Pākehā. Otirā he waha kau ia, he kōrero noa iho (TWM 14/6/1866:100). / It is being said that Waikato want to try to take back its lands that the Pākehā have obtained, but it's only rumour, just talk.
Synonyms: kōrero takuahi, tara, wawara, kōhimuhimu, kohimu, kōhumuhumu, tūtara
2. (noun) unreliable person - a person who does not keep their word.
Kāore noa anō kia tae mai tana reta e whakaū ana i tāna i kī ai - he waha kau pea (HJ 2015:39). / Her letter has in fact not yet arrived confirming what she said - perhaps she's an unreliable person.
whakapatipati
1. (-a,-ngia,-tia) to flatter, cajole, coax, bribe, beg, cadge.
I ngā tau 11 ka pahemo e whakapatipati ana ngā kaihokohoko whenua a te kāwanatanga i ngā rangatira e noho 'hoahoa' ana ki a rātou kia hokona atu ō rātou whenua hei wāhi tūranga mō Nū Pāremata (TTR 1990:288). / For the next 11 years the government's land purchase agents coaxed the chiefs who were 'friendly' to them into selling their land for a place to establish New Plymouth.
Synonyms: whakapati, pati, kaimātai, pīnono, pīnene, patipati
2. (modifier) flattering, obsequious.
He pai nōna, he aroha, he atawhai, he hūmārie, he pono nō āna kōrero. Kāore ana kōrero whakapatipati, kāore he kōrero rūpahu (TTT 1/6/1925:239). / His good qualities were of compassion, generosity, affability and speaking the truth. He did not make flattering talk or tell lies.
Synonyms: patipati
3. (noun) smooth talk, flattery, sweet talk.
I kī mai a Māminga nāna i whakaheke te utu o tana waka, he pai nōna ki a au. Mēnā e hokona ana ki tētahi atu, kua kotahi mano tāra atu anō. Rangi: Tēnā rūkahu tēnā. Kaua e arohia atu ngā whakapatipati a tēnā kutu (HKK 1999:65). / Pare: Māminga (Deceitful) said that he reduced the price of his vehicle because he liked me. If he was selling it to someone else it would have been one thousand dollars more. Rangi: That's a load of rubbish. Don't take any notice of that vermin's smooth talk.
ngutu kau
1. (modifier) hypocritical, two-faced.
Ka unga ia e ahau ki te iwi ngutu kau (PT Ihaia 10:6). / I will send him against an hypocritical nation.
See also noho ngutu kau
2. (noun) mere talk, just talk, empty promise, one who makes an empty promise.
Nā, mō te taha ki a Tā Hōri Kerei. Kua maha noa ngā mea pai i kīia e ia kia tukua ki ngā Māori, engari kāore anō i mana noa tētahi o ana kupu, arā tētahi o ngā mea i whakaae ai ia; nō konei ko ngā Māori i āhua whakapono ki a ia i mua ai kua mōhio ināianei he ngutu kau āna kōrero, kāore he tinanatanga, he wairua kau (TWMNT 25/1/1879:257). / With regard to Sir George Grey, he has said many good things would be given to the Māori but not one of his promises have been fulfilled; even the Māori who were inclined to believe him, now know that his words are mere talk, nothing tangible can be expected.
Synonyms: kai ā-waha
kōrero
1. (verb) (-hia,-ngia,-tia) to tell, say, speak, read, talk, address.
Ko tētahi o ngā take nui o te Pāremata ināia tata nei, ko te tautohetohe o ngā mema mō te Paipera kia whakaaetia kia kōrerotia i roto i ngā kura Kāwanatanga o te motu (TTT 1/10/1927:695). / One of the important topics of Parliament recently was the members' debate concerning the Bible that it be allowed to be read in the public schools of the country.
Synonyms: pānui, rīti, mea, pepeha, hamumu, wani, whakahua, kīkī, puaki, kī
2. (noun) speech, narrative, story, news, account, discussion, conversation, discourse, statement, information.
Ko tētahi kōrero i rongo anō mātou i te hui, ko te kōrero mō tētahi tikanga o nehe (HM 2/2009:10). / An account we heard at the conference was about a custom from ancient times.
Tā te rangatira tāna kai he kōrero, tā te ware he muhukai (NP 2001:362). / The chief's sustenance is discussion, but that of the commoner is inattention.
Synonyms: pakiwaitara, kaute, whakamārama, pūtea moni, pire, rongorongo, pitopito kōrero, rongo, kawepūrongo
2. (verb) (-a,-tia) to flap (the wings, etc.).
Nāwai i roa tonu ki konei kua paku takarure, kua paku aroarowhaki, ā, taea ana te paku rere (HM 4/1997). / After some time here they are able to flap the wings a little, and then to fly a little.
3. (noun) hopelessness, despair, loss of heart, despondency.
Haehaetia ana te whatumanawa e ngā whakaatu mai a Iriaka i te āhua o te takarure noa o te tauoranga o ētehi Māori (TTR 2000:176). / Iriaka revealed heart-rending portraits of the hopelessness of the lives of some Māori lives.
4. (noun) reiteration, repetition, repeating (of talk).
Hei whakatepe noa i ēnei kōrero ko tā mātou takarure i ngā mihi ā mātou ake ki a koutou i haere mai nei i wīwī, i wāwā ki te kawe mai i ō koutou whakaaro ki tō tātou māpihi maurea (HM 2/1989:2). / To conclude this account is our reiteration of our own thanks to you all who came from scattered places to convey your ideas about our treasure.
5. (noun) flippers.
2. (noun) song of gossip, derisive song.
Nāna anō i waihanga, i whakaemi mai rānei i ngā kauheke ētahi paopao, me ētahi atu momo waiata hoki. Hui katoa e 77 ngā waiata nei (TTR 1998:75). / He composed, or collected from elders, derisive songs and other song genre. Altogether there were 77 of these songs.
mate kuawa
1. (noun) delirium, delirious, delirious talk (as of a sick person).
Nā te mate kuawa me te kore kaha ōna ki te kai i haria atu ia e tōna matua ki te tohunga o tō rātou takiwā, ki a Matiu Tūpuni (TTR 2000:90). / When he became delirious and unable to eat his father took him to the local tohunga, Matiu Tūpuni.
moenanu
1. (verb) to talk in one's sleep.
Kua kīia ake e au he moemoeā nā Himiona Te Kani-ā-Takirau ana kōrero, mehemea ehara i te moemoeā he mea moenanu nāna inā te kūrapa noa iho (TP 8/1910:10). / I have said that Himiona Te Kani-ā-Takirau's account is a dream, if it's not a dream then he's talking in his sleep because it's just pointless nonsense.
patipati
1. (verb) (-a,-hia,-tia) to flatter, wheedle, cajole, beg, cadge, coax.
Ko taua nūpepa i whakatūria hei tautoko i ngā tikanga a ētahi tāngata ruarua nei (tāngata Pākehā), ā e waiho ana ko ana kōrero tino horihori rawa, whakamā kore, hei patipati i te iwi (Māori) kia tahuri mai ki te āwhina i a ia (TWMNT 27/3/1877:89). / That newspaper was set up to support the causes of a few people (Pākehā people) and its stories are complete shameless fabrications designed to court the support of the people (Māori).
Synonyms: whakapatipati, whakapati, kaimātai, pīnono, pīnene, pati
2. (modifier) sweet-talking, coaxing, flattering, obsequious.
Kāti te whakarongo ki ngā kōrero patipati a te tangata, ehara tātou i te tamariki kia raru noa i te kōrero patipati (TP 4/1905:4). / Stop listening to the sweet-talk of someone, we aren't children to be led astray by flattering talk.
Synonyms: whakapatipati
3. (noun) flattery.
I tinihangatia a ia i ā rātau patipati (Ng 1993:156). / She was deceived by their flattery.
komeme
1. (verb) to mutter, mumble, talk in a low tone, complain.
Ko ōna ngutu kau e komeme ana, kīhai ia tōna reo i rangona (PT Hamuera I 1:13). / Only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.
Synonyms: hamumu, whakatanguru, pararāwaha, kumeme, kōwhetewhete, hāmeme, hāmumumumu, hāwata, pātīhau, whetewhete
2. (verb) to be burst inwards, stove in, dent.
Ka rangona te tūtukitanga o taua tima ātaahua, ko tōna ihu komeme ana i te tūtukitanga ai ki te pari, takoto ana i runga i ngā toka (THM 1/7/1895:2). / The collision of that beautiful ship was heard when its bow was stove in in the collision with the cliff, leaving it lying on the rocks.
3. (verb) to be withered, wrinkled, contracted by cold.
Kua komeme te kiri o ngā tamariki, he roa nō rātou e kaukau ana i te awa. / The children's skin was wrinkled because they were swimming in the stream for so long.
kātahi (nā) ka ...
1. that's better, now you're talking, I'm glad to hear it, that's terrible - an idiom used to show agreement or support, or sometimes disapproval, for a comment about a change to what is considered to be the correct course of action.
E pā, kua whakaaro ake ahau me tuhi tāku tuhinga whakapae ki te reo Māori kē. Kātahi nā ka tika! / Sir, I am now considering writing my thesis in Māori instead. Now you're on the right track.
