Re: CHAT drinking soup: (was: Malat (on behalf of Garrett))

Following a thought I checked a dictionary of Maori and found that the
common words for drinking are the verbs inu and unu, the variation of
vowel sound does not appear to be significant in meaning.  But to smoke
tobacco is kai paipa, to eat pipe, and to drink alcohol is kai waipiro, to
drink stinkingwater (I think that is how it breaks down).  Both phrases
appeared after European colonalisation and the substances in question were
identified as foreign foods to be 'eaten' rather than inhaled, smoked,
drank or taken.  I suspect the words for poison, paitini/paihana, are also
borrowings from English, but my dictionary gives no indication of its
usage.

It is not uncommon around New Zealand to see no smoking stickers written
in Maori that use the phrase "kai paipa".

- andrew.

Andrew Smith, Intheologus                       hobbit@earthlight.co.nz
Q. Why are there so many Smiths in the Phone Book?
A. Because they all have telephones!

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