Wahiawā is one of those beautiful Oʻahu place names that is so often mispronounced. It means "place of noise," for the rough seas could be heard all the way to Wahiawā.

Kula has a number of meanings including: "plain, field, or open pasture." It also means "a source" and it is Hawaiian for the English word "gold." But perhaps the best-known usage in English is to mean "school." Say it with a modifier, such as kula kiʻekiʻe, a high school.

Today’s Hawaiian word of the day is one of the most commonly used of Hawaiian words, lani. It means "sky, heaven, or heavenly," and can also mean "spiritual." Lani is part of many proper names, such as Leilani for “heavenly lei.”

Many of our visitors to Hawaiʻi come from Japan, and we call them kepanī. It is, as you may have guessed, a transliteration of the English word Japanese.

Akamai, for smart, is one of the first Hawaiian words many people learn. It also means "clever, expert, skillful." If you see someone doing something very clever, it's okay to say Akamai ʻoe or you're very smart.

Mōʻī means "king, sovereign, monarch." And mōʻī followed the word wahine means "queen." The word mōʻī is of recent origin, and may be used by itself to mean a monarch of either gender.

Kīkākila comes from two English words. Kīkā comes from the English word "guitar." Kila is from the English word "steel." Put them together and you get the Hawaiian word for steel guitar.

Our Hawaiian word for today is papaheʻenalu. Papa can mean a "board or almost any kind of flat surface." Adding heʻe nalu to it makes it a surfboard. Heʻe means "to slide or surf," and nalu means "wave." Put it all together and you get a surfboard.

Kūkulu means to build or construct, or erect as a house. You can also use kūkulu to mean set up, such as a tent, or to found, such as a society.

Our Hawaiian word for today is a well-known place name on Kauaʻi, Poʻipū. It is often mispronounced because people see the first three letters as a group and pronounce it as they would "poi." It means crashing, as in wave action.