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Idioms

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Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

kiri kawa

1. (modifier) short-tempered, quick-tempered, irritable, irascible, cranky, crotchety.

He wā he kiri kawa tōna wairua; he wā anō he tangata marae, he tangata nohopuku (TTR 1990:237). / Sometimes he was very short-tempered, and at other times he was generous or reclusive.

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Synonyms: āritarita, ārita, whanewhane, kiriwetiweti

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