Word for the Travel Wise (02/05/06)

In the land of Aloha and warm-hearted smiles, days come and go as easy as the cool ocean breeze off the Pacific. People take their time heading to work, school and a day of play. Surfers hit the North Shore in search of big waves while tourist in Waikiki cruise the strip for local goodies at the International Marketplace or walk for leisure. For most Hawai’i is a place of undisturbed paradise where sun showers and rainbows grace its inhabitants and their shores with beaming cheerful color year-round. It is without a doubt one of the island destinations in the world where people look to have their worries washed away and vacation in ultimate peace.

Today’s word is a Hawai’ian word used in Hawai’i:

pilikia – (noun-intransitive verb) Trouble of any kind, great or small; problem, bother, distress, accident, difficulty, in trouble, troubled, bothered, cramped, crowded

Hopefully use of this word will never have to happen, but the fact remains no place is 100% free of trouble. Given the many definitions one could easily be on a ‘pilikia,’ cramped, or crowded Bus back to the hotel. However a trip to Hawai’i comes as a good temporary escape from most ‘pilikia’ on the job or home front from which you’ve retreated.

If you’ve got some Hawai’ian vacation travel on the horizon I suggest learning a few words of the language. For a lingo not as widely spoken as most and on the forefront of being defined completely as a dead lang it has some of the best free resources on the web. For a list of some common words check out Aloha-Hawaii. Kamehameha Schools has up to 30 lessons (pretty lengthy and in depth) all available for viewing on Real Player. Click here to access the Kulaíwí distance learning and use if you’ve got some weeks to go before departing. If this doesn’t fulfill your learning go to Hawai’i School Reports for additional links.