Fijian-English Dictionary - eCommons@Cornell - Cornell University

FIJIAN – ENGLISH DICTIONARY R. GATTY
bobo eyes closed. bobo mata dua one eye closed. vakabobo type of mat with no wool edging.
bo, boka v. to squeeze, press.
veibo n., v. wrestle, wrestling (as a sport), more traditionally Polynesian than Melanesian. veibo liga
arm-wrestling; tradionally, Fijians did arm-wrestling lying down.
bobo, boboka v. to clench (the fist), close (the eyes), squeeze (fruit, trigger of gun), massage (the body),
vakabobo, vakaboboka v. to feel by pressing (in checking on something such as maturity of fruit).
boboka na matamu close your eyes (usually covered with the hand, as in children’s games of hide and
seek). boboka na ivaka-sa-ribariba squeeze the trigger.
veibobo n., v. body-massage, a highly evolved skill in Fiji. This is considered by eastern highlanders to
be an introduced coastal concept. Highlanders never developed any body oil-lotions.
boboraka v. to squeeze rapidly and forcefully many times, as in squeezing orange juice, or in softening a
mango for eating. (Fijians make an opening in the mango skin with their teeth, then suck out the flesh,
if the fruit is ripe.)
bobota 1. adj. pleasantly plump and soft (human body, fruit) with an implication of rosiness and ripeness
of the flesh, or approaching full ripeness.
bobota 2. adj. of the body, covered with blisters, pimples.
bobula n. slave. bobula-taka v. to enslave. Slavery was very common among coastal Fijians (areas of
Polynesian influence). Slaves were not usually bought or sold but were sometimes given to political
allies (Cakobau gave some Lovoni slaves to the Tui Cakau but he sold many of them to white
planters). Usually they were war captives. Commoners were sometimes virtual slaves to the chieftains,
but often happy enough, accustomed to that servitude. In some places still today, dependant relatives
may be treated as virtual slaves within a family. The Tui Cakau has in a previous generation used
prisoners as slave labour on his farmland.
boci adj., n. uncircumcised, for a male adult a despised characteristic, implying he never became a man.
A person known to be uncircumcised is the butt of jokes and derision. Circumcision is an important
ceremony for all Fijian boys growing up. By contrast, most Fiji Indians are not circumcised.
bodaka n. blister, callus, hardened skin on hand or foot, from abrasion or work, typically on the hand
from use of cane knife, or foot from ill-fitting shoe.
bo-dra n. ulcer. bodra ni davuibuco stomach ulcer.
bogi n. night. Sa bogi mai. Night is falling. Sa bogi mai na vanua. Night is coming over the land i.e.,
night is falling. ena bogi last night. Bogi! a courtesy called out at night when passing an occupied
house, or intending to enter it. (This is a tama, traditional greeting at the entrance of a house; inside,
the host will give a traditional response.) The passing of a number of days is spoken of as the number
of nights that have passed. Feasts mark certain numbers of days that have passed after a birth or a
death: bogi va four nights, a ceremony 4 days after a death, birth, or circumcision, bogi tini “ten
nights” ceremony 10 days after a birth, especially of chiefs. bogi drau 100 nights (after death, when
formal mourning period ceases). bogi walu eight nights, is a certain type of seasonal storm that lasts a
week to ten days of ugly blustery, cold, wet weather. Syn. (Colo East) bo.
Idiom: droka na bogi. stay up all night.
vakabogibogi v. to do something until nightfall. Au a mai vakabogibogi toka e bati ni wai. Until
nightfall I stayed by the water’s edge.
bogicaka (or) bogivaka v. to do something, usually work, right into the night, usually gardening or
fishing. laki siwa bogivaka go fishing till nightfall.
bogilevu tutu n. the dead of night, midnight. bogilevu in the middle of the night.
bogi-rua n. refers to day before yesterday or the day after tomorrow. Au a yaco ena bogirua. I arrived
the day before yesterday. Au na lako ena bogirua. I will leave the day after tomorrow. rua two.
bogi night(s). Fijians count in nights, not days.
iboi n. smell. na kena iboi its smell (pleasant or unpleasant).
boi, boica 1. v. of a person, to smell (a thing). 2. of something, to have a smell. sa boi vinaka (ca).
it smells good (bad). boilevu smells very bad. boi kamakama has a burnt smell. boi bunobuno
smells of sweat. boi kuvukuvu smells of smoke. boi mimi smells of urine. boi-sa-reguregu smells
delicious (of food). boi sisiva has a fishy smell. vakaboiboi v. to put on perfume,
Idiom: (Ra) boi-tilitili. bad smell. (somewhat vulgar).
Idiom: E na boi ga mai na da. A misdeed will always be found out. Lit. The smell of excrement will
always become apparent.
boia n. a plant, tall, 20 feet, wild species of ginger family, Alpinia boia, leaves used to wrap food for
cooking in earth oven. Also known as boboia or vava, boe, boeboe. Wild pigs favour the stalks as
food, pigeons and parrots eat the small fruit.
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