Mele Kalikimaka 2024!

Mele Kalikimaka is the modern Hawaii way of saying Merry Christmas. And while we have snow on Mauna Kea during the winter season, I'm guessing we are the only U.S. State where Santa can arrive by sleigh or by outrigger canoe!

Looking at the phrase, Mele Kalikimaka, you might wonder why Hawaiians just didn't use the English phrase. Well, it's probably because the Hawaiian language doesn't have the same letters of the alphabet as we do in English. The letters T, C, R and S are not in the Hawaiian alphabet.

So to say the word Merry Christmas in the Hawaiian language, you would have to substitute some of the letters in that phrase for those that do exist in the 'olelo Hawaiian. Basically you would come up with the two words, Mele Kalikimaka by substituting the T, C, R and S with the letters that do exist. Meaning, instead of Merry, you would have to substitute the 'r' sound with 'l', for example, to come up with Mele instead of Merry...

Most people first heard of the phrase Mele Kalikimaka from the song when Bing Crosby sang it with the Andrews Sisters in about 1949. It's fun and upbeat and if it's been a while since you heard the song, here a link to it: https://youtu.be/ob4LT_gUSFQ

We here at Koili Point wish you all a Mele Kalikimaka and Happy Holidays for those who celebrate other spiritual or religious holy days during this time.

Aloha!

Check availability for both houses at: https://www.airbnb.com/p/oceanfront-ac-pool

If there are topics you would like to know more about in future blogs, kindly let me know at koilipoint@gmail.com. Mahalo! Len