Kada kuåt kon su chalån-ña.
To each his own way.
A wonderful example of how we took the Spanish language and modified it to suit our own manner of speaking.
"Kåda kuåt kon su" is the Spanish "cada cual con su," meaning "each one with his or her."
"Chalån-ña" is Chamorro for "his or her way." Most of us know chålan because it also means "street" or "road."
Notice the double possessive : su (in Spanish) and -ña (in Chamorro) both mean "his, her, its." This duplication is not strictly necessary except that the Chamorro, when s/he said this phrase, was not thinking like a Spaniard, analyzing word for word, realizing that "su" already means "his" or "her."
OTHER FORMS OF THE SAME EXPRESSION
Another form of this proverb is : "Kåda kuåt kon su guston-ña." To each his own taste/preference.
Gusto, which we borrowed from Spanish, means "taste, liking, pleasure, preference."
When someone likes desserts, we can say, "I fina'mames gustoto-ña." "Desserts are his/her preference."
This one means, "Each one to his own thing."
Iyo is the term indicating possession or ownership.
Iyo-ko is "mine," iyo-mo is "yours," iyon-ña is "his, hers or its."
I like this form of the expression because the "thing" isn't even defined in the slightest. It's not a "way" or a "liking." It's just a "thing," about the most general, all-embracing description there can be! So it really is up to you!
Now we are straying a bit away from matters of taste and now in the area of opinions or beliefs.
"To each his own opinion or belief."
I've heard this phrase said when someone decides to do something we would never do, or who does things differently from what we do.
Well, each one has his/her way of seeing the world and judging matters.
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