Les Jones

Word of the Day > Word of the Day - Humuhumunukunukuapuaa

Via Bartleby, which has a pronunciation sound file.

NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. humuhumunukunukuapuaa or hu·mu·hu·mu·nu·ku·nu·ku·a·pu·a·as Either of two triggerfishes, Rhinecanthus aculeatus or R. rectangulus, native to the outer reefs of Hawaii, the latter having a broad black band on the side and a black triangle at the beginning of the tail.

ETYMOLOGY: Hawaiian humuhumu-nukunuku--pua'a, trigger fish with a blunt snout like a pig's : humuhumu, small trigger fish (from reduplication of Proto-Polynesian *sumu, trigger fish) + nukunuku, small snout, reduplication of nuku, snout + , like + pua'a, pig.

The fish is in the news because Hawaiian legislators are trying to renew its status as the official state fish.

Previous WOTD - Salmagundi

PS Hawaiian children fish for the humuhumunukunukuapuaa with a wooden bat in shallow water.

PPS They tell each other when to strike at the fish by murmuring "humunu humunu SWING!"

PPPS Well, OK. That's not exactly true.

PPPPS The bat is actually made of aluminum. Old timers think the aluminum bats are ruining the sport. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Bonus! - My friend Karl gave me some good advice once. If there's ever a Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit question about Hawaii's rulers, the answer is always King Kamehameha. He's apparently the only Hawaiian ruler anyone is expected to know. I think I'll pass along Karl's advice to my children on their wedding night unless I think of something better.