Also prominent in Hrmitt idioms is the fact that they do not wear clothes, and therefore regard clothing and any other adornment of their bodies as intentionally hiding or altering one's appearance. Thus, many words associated with clothing are associated with hiding, disguise, or deception.
7.2.1. gruŋmi ishlagu vvat
The phrasal verb gruŋmi ishlagu vvat literally means “to remove the mask” or “to remove the camouflage”. However, it is often used in the sense of “to admit” or “to confess”:
gruŋgetcheŋmi ishlagu vvat nai eŋittumi gorlaunu.
gruŋ-et-cheŋ-mi
hands-3sg-man-v
ishlag-u
mask-pat
vvat
away
nai
how
eŋit-tu-mi
Engit-3sg.p-v
gorl-au-u.
food-1sg.p-pat
The man admitted that he stole my food.
This idiomatic meaning stems from the Hrmitt's perception that clothing or masks are hide one's true appearance. So to remove one's mask is to show one's true colors, to reveal one's true appearance, and hence the derivative meaning “to confess” or “to admit”.
The verb eŋitmi derives from the noun eŋit, sometimes translated as “hop-crab”, a small, shelled animal on Pyak that moves by a hopping gait and scavenges for food scraps around Hrmitt dwellings. The verb form has the idiomatic meaning of “to steal” or “to pilfer”.
gruŋgetaismi ishlagu vvat nai shchaitetmi bufetlishttu.
gruŋ-et-ais-mi
hands-3sg-pilot-v
ishlag-u
mask-pat
vvat
away
nai
how
shchait-et-mi
romance-3sg-v
buf-et-lisht-tu
body-3sg-Lisht-dat
The pilot confessed that he's in love with Lisht.
As indicated in section 4.1.2.4, when the verb shchaitmi is used with a dative object, it means to be in love with, or to pine for, whereas if it had been used with an ablative object, it would have meant to be in a long-term, mutual relationship with.