31 Dec 2019

Māori Phrase of the Day - Taihoa, kāore e roa!

From Summer Times, 11:55 am on 31 December 2019

Three times a week, we'll check in with Hēmi Kelly, to learn some useful te reo Māori phrases you can use in your day-to-day life.

Hemi's a lecturer in Te Ara Poutama - the Faculty of Māori & Indigenous Development at Auckland University of Technology, and his book A Māori Phrase a Day: 365 Phrases to Kickstart Your Reo will be released on January 7.

Last time on the show we learned the phrase: Kia pai te rā!

Today's phrase: Taihoa, kāore e roa!

Translation: Hang on, I won't be long!

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"'Taihoa' means 'hang on, hold up, wait' - and 'kāore e roa' means 'I won't be long'".

"If someone's knocking on the bathroom door you can say 'Taihoa, kāore e roa! Or you could just take that first word - 'taihoa!'"


How much should we roll our 'r' in 'roa'?

"It's rolled - but not THAT much", Hēmi says.

"It's not a violent roll - it's a pacifist roll!"

"Everywhere the 'r' is present, it's always rolled."