What’s the official state fish of Hawaii? It’s the humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa. The name translates as “little triggerfish with a small snout like a pig,” puaʻa being the Hawaiian word for “pig.” The triggerfish is named for the large spine on its back...
After several weeks in Hawaii, a South Carolina listener returned curious about the terms aloha and aloha spirit. Founded on ideas of mutual respect among humans and in harmony with nature, the concept of the “Aloha spirit” is so fundamental to...
Dexter from San Diego, California, says his family used the word zoris for the footwear other people call flip-flops. In Japan, the word zori refers to a type of footwear made of grass or straw, and English speakers adopted this term in the early...
Suzanne in Williamsburg, Virginia, but grew up in Southern California, where she used the term go-aheads for the rubber-soled shoes that other people call flip-flops or rubber thongs or zoris. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Go...
Cody from Honolulu, Hawaii, says that when his family was setting out on a trip, his father would declare We’re off like a jug handle! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Off Like a Jug Handle” Hi there, you have A Way with Words. Hi...
Elizabeth in Suffolk, Virginia, spent her early childhood in Hawaii, then moved to Indiana and found that kids had a different playground game that involved pretending to use a cootie shot to inoculate someone against imagined infection from cooties...
