Aloha

"hey, guys...I don't have a blog, so I can't start a thread! Could someone start a thread about using the word Aloha... I want to start a discussion. Thanks..."

Ok, aureservoir, go for it.

Comments

I find it condescending and slightly obnoxious that employees at the ABC Stores are ordered to say "aloha" and "mahalo" to customers.

Ahola is probably the most insincerely used word in these islands. Which, of course, is totally opposite to its original meaning.

Of course, we do the same thing with many English words, probably starting with "love". :)

Thank you very much for your assistance, Linkmeister!

Why do I have so much trouble with "Hawaii people" when I post online?! All I was doing was voicing my opinions about the usage of the words "Aloha" and "Mahalo"...a Mainlander thought he needed to speak some Hawaiian to business people in Hawaii. I told him no need; standard English would suffice (plus, what if the person he was talking to wasn't a long-time Hawaii resident?).

In my experience, local people/friends don't say aloha and mahalo to each other (it's "howzit" and "thanks"). I'm not saying it's never done; just that it's used sparingly, if at all. I was just trying to tell this guy my reality when this person posted and said, "where'd you get that idea?" and implied that I must not have the Aloha Spirit or sense of Ohana because I don't use Aloha and Mahalo a lot (when tourists say it to me, I reciprocate, of course).

Hey, at least I'm sincere and don't disrespect the word (everybody say, ALOOOOOOHA!!).

My mom says aloha and mahalo alot. But she's a kupuna with that hawaiian studies program in the elementary schools in Hawai'i. I've never said it much, sorry to say, but I always think of someone being very "Kam School Grad" when they do. Not that it's a bad thing, my mom and 2 of my sisters graduated from Kam School. It just seems that they've become overly "touristized". But I'm not sure who's more to blame, Danny Kaleikini or Don Ho? :)

Albert, it's no more condescending and obnoxious than anything else hotel and tourism industry workers say! Sure it's insincere; it's required of them rather than from the heart. I was at a fancy hotel in Georgia once, and all the workers had been trained to answer guest requests with, "it would be my pleasure". Ugh, just as bad! It's not the language it's in, it's the spirit (or lack thereof) with which it's delivered.

A while ago at work, I tried answering the phone with "aloha" instead of "good morning". I figured, if we in Hawaii don't use the word, who else will? But a lot of my contacts just laughed at me and asked me if my boss was making me say it. On the other hand, there are local guys I meet who genuinely say "mahalo" instead of "thank you" and it sounds great.

But aureservoir, you're right, I don't hear "aloha" all that much. For that matter, there are a lot of Hawaiian words that local folks of my parents' generation use that I rarely hear in conversation any more, like: holoholo, poho, pilikia, kapulu. There are probably a lot more that I can't remember...

I've got a habit of answering the phone and saying "Aloha" if it's someone I know (via caller ID). And I'll say "mahalo" to any local person for everything ranging from letting me jump in for a set on the bench press at the gym to the waiter remembering to fill my glass with water.

Personally I never noticed them saying either of those words at the ABC store but then again I never buy anything from those places anyway.

As for "aloha" being incensere, I only think that's the case when dealing with the travel/tourist industry. They're programed to say it so of course it's not a real feeling of "aloha" behind it. There's still plenty of it around though.

and on that note....

ALOHA!!!

Glen: I use those words all the time! Can you believe some kids don't know what a tita is?!

I brought some friends with me from Austin when my sister got married in Hawaii back in 2001. We had some really harrowing experiences with our connecting flights, and every time bad news was delivered over the intercom, it was followed by "Mahalo".

My friends left Hawai`i with the impression that "Mahalo" really means "screw you", and I can see why -- tack it after every delivery of bad news, and it feels more like a taunt.

"Flight 83 will be boarding way the hell on the other side of the airport ... mahalo."

Ha! remember when trash cans had Mahalo! written on them? Tourists thought it was the Hawaiian word for rubbish.

I don't "say" Aloha or Mahalo much, but use it a ton in my emails. Something about writing it makes it easier to say...don't know why that is...like I wasn't brought up saying it, so it still sounds foreign coming from my lips.

Usually the only time I will say it is in response to someone else saying it to me (like at a store or restaurant), but i'm never the initiator.

Like honukai, the words 'Aloha' and 'Mahalo' definitely make their way regularly into my written correspondence. In fact, it seems almost off-putting to just write "Dear X" or "Mrs. X" most of the time. And like a bumpersticker, to me it's also a subtle way to proclaim my island ties, especially when conducting business with Mainland offices (especially in the winter!). I never saw it as insincere... I mean it, at least. And my smidgen of Hawaiian ancestry should give me a free pass anyway, darn it!

In real life, I probably say "Aloha" when in a distinctly Hawaiian setting, or when I'm greeted with it first. I agree the cash register at an ABC Store seems a somewhat odd place for an overenthusiastic, bellowing rendition.

It doesn't bother me when the clerks in ABC stores say Aloha or Mahalo. Maybe because I don't have any emotional ties to the words. I live above an ABC store and have gotten to know the latenight lady quite well. When she says
"Aloha" or "Mahalo" I believe that she means it.

Anybody working in customer service has to be polite to people whether it is Hello and Thank you or the Hawaiian translations. Of course the tourism industry is going to want employees to say Aloha and Mahalo. They are selling Hawaii.

Would you rather have ABC clerks saying "Howz It?" or "Thanks Bra." while throwing up a shaka sign. Would that be more local?

Almost all of the local people I know say Mahalo on a regular basis but I don't hear a lot of Aloha's. Working at ZIppy's a lot of my customers and coworkers say Mahalo. I stick with the Thank You's which fit me much better.

Post a Comment