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
