ngau paepae
1. (verb) to bite the latrine bar.
Ko te whakauru ki taua karapu me ngau te tangata ki te paepae hamuti, kātahi anō ka mana ki te whai kī i roto i taua whakaminenga (TTT 1/2/1927:533). / For the membership of that club a person must undertake an initiation ritual and only then is he able to have speaking rights in that assembly.
2. (noun) beam-biting, initiation ritual - traditionally biting the horizontal beam of a latrine was part of the pure rite. The paepae was regarded as having protective powers. During the pure rituals the person was required to bite the paepae. The ngau paepae ritual was also used to cure sickness or to clense breaches of tapu.
Ko tētahi whakamutunga o te karakia whakangungu he ngau paepae (M 2007:224). / One conclusion of the protective karakia is biting the latrine bar.
