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Hawaiian Word of The Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Hawaiian Word of the Day: March 15th

By Leilani Poliʻahu

Published March 15, 2024 at 12:00 AM HST

Pale‘ili is another word for what we used to call a palule-t (a T-shirt). Since so many of us wear T-shirts, it should come in handy.

Hawaiian Word of the Day

Leilani Poliʻahu

See stories by Leilani Poliʻahu

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Hawaiian Word of The Day

April 29th: Lolo

Leilani Poliʻahu

Our Hawaiian word today is a good example of the importance of putting the right stress on vowel sounds, or leaving them off. Lolo means brains, and it is from that root word that we get such new words as lolo uila: one of the words for computer – an electric brain. If you say it with stress on both vowels it becomes lōlō, and that means paralyzed, numb, feeble-minded, or crazy. Be careful how you pronounce Hawaiian words.
Hawaiian Word of The Day

April 28th: Kāhea

Leilani Poliʻahu

Our Hawaiian Word of the Day is kāhea meaning to call out, cry out, invoke, greet, or name. You may not use the word, but you hear its application often when you watch a hula performance and hear one or more of the dancers call out the first lines of a stanza as a cue to the chanter. Put stress on the first vowel.