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Idioms

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Loan words

Historical loan words

Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

taringa

1. (verb) to be deaf, unhearing, indifferent, unresponsive - often in the phrase taringa turi.

I momoho anō hoki te mahi a Ngata ki te whakawhere i te hunga kua roa kē nei e taringa turi ana, nā te mea, i murua ō rātau whenua (TTR 1996:108). / Ngata was also successful in persuading people who had been unresponsive, because of the confiscation of their land.

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2. (noun) ear.

Kāore i ārikarika ngā pātaitai a taku māmā ki a au, me te papaki i aku taringa (HP 1991:23). / My mother asked me a lot of questions and slapped my ears.

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patu taringa

1. tell a fib, tell a lie, pull someone’s leg.

Pare: I mea mai a Tau i wini koe i te rōtō. Rangi: Kei te patu taringa kē ia. / Pare: Tau said you won the lotto. Rangi: He’s pulling your leg.

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Synonyms: kēā, papahu, tahupera, rūkahu, whakateka, teka, tito, tipatipa, tīpapa, kōrero teka, kōrero parau, horihori, hori, pūkei, rūpahu, takoto, hāwatewate, pūkai, paraparau

taringa rahirahi

1. (noun) person quick to take offence, touchy person.

Kīhai i tika ki a ia te whakataukī a ōna tūpuna 'Ko Ngāti Paoa taringa rahirahi', —nōtemea ehara ia i te tangata ohotata (TKP 1857:4). / The saying of his ancestors 'Ngāti Pāoa have sensitive ears (quick to take offence at insults)' was not appropriate for him because he was not a person to act impulsively.

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tō/ō taringa

1. listen more carefully! - an idiom used to advise someone to listen more carefully.

taringa kōhatu

1. (modifier) deaf, stubborn.

Kua taha ngā rā i āhei ai he noho taringa kōhatu hoki mātou ki ngā kupu taurangi e maringi mai ana i te hinengaro me te whatumanawa o tērā reanga mātau rawa ki ngā waiata me ngā kōrero tuku iho! (Te Ara 2013). / Gone are the days when we could, but didn't often bother to, sit and listen to the words and phrases flowing forth from the heart and mind of that knowledgeable generation in the songs and historical narratives!

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2. (noun) deaf person, deaf ears, stubborn person.

Auē, he aha taku kī atu ki a koe inanahi, e tama? Kaua e haere ki reira! He taringa kōhatu koe! / Oh heck, what did I say to you yesterday, son? Don't go there! You're a deaf ears!

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taringa morimori

1. (noun) inattentive person.

Ko te ao Māori tētahi iwi taringa mārō, taringa morimori, roro kore, aha nei, aha nei, i te korenga e kite mā te kōrero Māori i te kāinga ka mōhio ngā tamariki ki te kōrero Māori (Kāretu 2015). / The Māori world consists of stubborn people, inattentive brainless people, and of similar characteristics in that they cannot see that by speaking Māori in the home children will know how to speak Māori.

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ngau taringa

1. (noun) ear biting ceremony - a ceremony by which the mana of a dying tohunga or rangatira was transferred to a younger person by biting the ear of the dying person.

Ka whakaheke te tohunga, a Taipāhau, ka tukuna e ia ōna mana katoa ki a Te Heuheu i runga i te kawa o te 'ngau taringa.' Koia tēnei; ko tā te taitama ko ia te whākapi he komikomi i te taringa o te kaumātua (TTR 1990:186). / The tohunga, Taipāhau, transferred all his powers to Te Heuheu by the ceremony known as 'ngau taringa'. This is: the young man, who is to be the successor, bites the ear of the elder.

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taringa waho

1. (noun) outer ear.

taringa huruhuru

1. (noun) old person.

taringa pākura

1. (modifier) stubborn, obstinate, inflexible, hard-nosed, intractable, obdurate.

He tangata taringa pākura te tangata nei (W 1971:256). / This man is a stubborn person.

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Synonyms: kakī mārō, whakaioio, houkeke, upoko mārō, hōkeke, mōtohe, taumārō, whakaturi, tohetohe, turi, ngana, makiki, kōioio, whakatete, whakatohe, whātuturi, hoi, kōroiroi, pukutohe, pūkeke, papamārō, whakatuturi, pake, pukutohetohe


2. (noun) stubborn person.

Mēnā he tangata upoko mārō koe kua kīia koe he taringa pākura (Te Ara 2016). / If you are an obstinate person you are said to be a 'taringa pākura'.

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taringa whitirua

1. (noun) inattentive person.

He taringa whitirua koe (W 1971:498). / You are an inattentive person.

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See also whitirua

taringa mutu

1. (noun) stubborn person.

I a au e tamariki ana, ki te kore au e aro ki te kupu a taku whaea, kua perea e ia taku taringa, ā kua mea mai 'taringa mutu!' (HJ 2012:12). / When I was young, if I didn't take notice of what my mother said, she would have flicked my ear and said 'stubborn one' to me.

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taringa maitai

1. (modifier) deaf, stubborn.


2. (noun) deaf person, deaf ears, stubborn person.

Kātahi te taringa maitai ko koe! / What a stubborn person you are!

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taringa mārō

1. (verb) to be inattentive, deaf, stubborn.

He rite tonu te kīia atu kia kaua e pērā, engari taringa mārō ake ana. / They had been told over and over not to do that, but they're an inattentive bunch.

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2. (modifier) deaf, stubborn, inattentive.

Ehara kē hoki i te mea kāore e puta i a rātou ō rātou whakaaro ki te reo Māori, ehara, engari he momo kakī mārō, taringa mārō. E tino pōhēhē ana mā te kōrero Pākehā ka ora ko te reo Māori (HM 3/1998:5). / And it's not as if they can't express their thoughts in Māori, they can, but it's a type of obstinacy, of stubbornness. They really think that the Māori language will survive by speaking English.

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3. (noun) deaf person, deaf ears, stubborn person.

E kore ia e neke i ērā whakaaro ōna. He taringa mārō hoki (HJ 2012:12). / She will never change her opinion. She's so stubborn.

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taringa roto

1. (noun) inner ear.

taringa waenga

1. (noun) middle ear.

mau taringa

1. (noun) ear ornament, ear pendant.

Hai tohu i te mutunga o tana ākonga, hoatu ana e Te Pairi ana pounamu mau taringa mō Te Kani (TTR 1996:222). / To mark the end of his learning period, Te Pairi gave Te Kani his greenstone ear pendants.

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taringa o Tiakiwai

1. (noun) ear fungus, Auricularia polytricha - a thin, fleshy, ear-like growth, shiny dark brown on one side and dull whitish grey on the other. Common on both live and dead trunks of broad-leaved forest trees, particularly on māhoe, karaka and houhere.

See also hakeke

tī ngā taringa

1. (verb) to make a ringing noise in the ears.

Kua tī ngā taringa o Ngā Puhi ki ngā kupu mō Heke (TK 2/6/1845:21). / Ngā Puhi's ears are ringing with the statements about Heke.

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2. (noun) ringing noise in the ears, tinnitus, tingle.

kaikainga ngā taringa

1. got an earful - an idiom.

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