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  • ʻĀkau means "north" when used as a direction. But is more commonly used to mean "right," as opposed to left.
  • One of the best known Hawaiian words is hula, meaning to dance. Hula is a very generic term for dance. There are many specific types of hula. Don't confuse hula with hulahula, the word you learned for ballroom dancing, and don't say, "hula dancing" – that's redundant.
  • Mele means "song, anthem, or chant of any kind; a poem; or to sing or to chant." Na mele o Hawaiʻi nei means “the songs of Hawaiʻi.”
  • ʻOhana means family. It is one of the most popularly used Hawaiian words in English conversation, and is often used in names of organizations, as well as family units.
  • Iulai is the Hawaiian name for the month of July, the seventh month of the modern calendar. Yes, Iulai is a borrowed word from English. In fact, all of the names of the months of the calendar we now use are borrowed. Since the Hawaiian calendar of months did not coincide with that of the Europeans.
  • Hapa is most often used in English conversation to describe something that is mixed or part of something.
  • The muʻumuʻu is often called the “Mother Hubbard” or loose-fitting dress. Don't confuse it with mumu which is a thud-like sound. The dress is a muʻumuʻu.
  • Another beautiful Hawaiian name that is so often mispronounced is Kalanianaʻole and it means “the chief without measure.” It is a name given to so many prominent landmarks and the one that seems to give a lot of trouble to people in the broadcast media.
  • Manaʻo means "to think, thought, idea, belief, meaning, opinion, suggestion." We often talk about our manaʻo, and we often share our manaʻo with our friends.
  • HPR speaks with attorney Kevin O’Grady about the recent Supreme Court decision striking public property gun restrictions; attorney Kristina Baehr shares updates on the court settlements from the Red Hill fuel spill lawsuit.
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