The Barracuda That Tears Free — Samoan Proverb Tee

"O le sapatu motu pa."
"The barracuda that tears off the hook."

This alagaupu (Samoan proverb) comes from the sapatu, the barracuda—a big, powerful predatory fish that, once hooked, fights so violently it can tear the hook clean off the line rather than submit to it. Because of that ferocity, the saying is used to describe a quarrelsome, hard-to-handle person: someone who won't be reeled in quietly, who breaks loose from whatever tries to hold them rather than give in.