Red of Hiawatha House mentioned terms that he was surprised most people don't know. Red said no one seemed to use the term open fall or crakin around. Open fall meant, "that he (Red's father) had time to do all the farm work that needed to be done.” Crakin around was someone being grumpy or out of sorts.
I had never heard of those terms but we have a lot of local phrases here in Hawaii too.
We were at a Kaiser presentation recently when another retired military couple there who were mainland haole (Caucasian) used the word hanabata days. They didn't pronounce it correctly, but they used the meaning perfectly. I was just surprised they knew it, but I wondered if they REALLY knew what the actual meaning was.
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And this is me and my brother during our hanabata days when we lived in the middle of a canefield.
Ahhh yes... "Those were the (hanabata) days my friend, we thought they'd never end...."
Here's the song, Those Were the Days.
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
ReplyDeleteKay, here in Mumbai, on the west coast of India, in my language, Marathi, we too have a similar description referring to kids-wth-runny-noses, signifying typical carefree childhoods of our times. It amazes me how across miles and cultures we tend to think in very similar ways. And , yes , the song you posted , was something that played incessantly on the radio, when I came to UC at Irvine, in 1969, for grad school. My very first travel air travel anywhere, and a 2 years university experience I have never forgotten. Had great roommates,made lifelong friends that I talk to even today (and have met on subsequent US trips) half a century later; I used to love this song then, it has such a universal interpretation, and hearing it ,brought a lump to my throat. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteUgich from Mumbai
Well, who knew? Sort of like the phrase ankle biters. That photo is so much fun!
ReplyDeleteThe term "hanabata" puts a friendly connotation to a rather graphic term for youngsters. I have heard the expression "snot nosed kid" here which means the same but your term sounds much cuter and friendlier.
ReplyDeleteThat is a sweet and funny expression! This is almost strange, last night I was listening to youtube music on my tablet before going to sleep, and the last one was Mary Hopkin singing "Goodbye". I love her voice, and it's nice to see her remembered here.
ReplyDeleteLoved the old photo.
ReplyDeleteI heard many a strange phrase uttered during my time in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard that term "hanabata" ... but thank you for that song. It's been a long time since I heard it... and it does bring back fond memories.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of that, but the term made me smile. So did the picture. I've been thinking of you almost nightly. The news shows the volcano, and I wonder how you all are faring.
ReplyDeleteI don't know any of those terms
ReplyDeleteAloha to you and your brother!
ReplyDeleteNew to me. I lived in Honolulu when I was one. :-) Only haole kid in my 2nd grade class.
ReplyDeleteInteresting phrase!!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute photo. My "runny nose days" were also spent rurally, on a small farm in Oregon where eventually seven of us kids ran around on our little nine acres, with the cows and pigs and chickens and dogs and barn cats. Those were the days, too.
ReplyDeleteIn Newfoundland there are sayings and phrases that are unique to the place alone.
ReplyDeleteI remember "snotty nosed kid" if the child were ill-behaved. It was runny nosed kid if it needed a nose blown or wiped.
ReplyDeleteI would think that they were copying the word from someone else and didn't know the meaning! I like the sayings that are quirky like my Dad's.
ReplyDeleteThe kids nowadays don't speak our language. Ah well. I suppose I don't speak theirs either.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have heard of snot-nosed kids but in quite a pejorative way rather than the kind of nostalgic way you present.
ReplyDeleteI liked seeing your childhood picture. I think you look very much the same! of course, I think the same about my childhood pictures and others don't see it.
That's a lovely expression. We have 'salad days' but that refers to young adults.
ReplyDeleteLin Floyd said interesting cuttural differences!
ReplyDeleteMy impression is that the term "haole" is not exactly complimentary. Am I wrong? But hanabata sounds just perfect.
ReplyDeleteI got this from the Big Island Now website: "As with many different words, meanings change over time. Today, “haole” is basically a word used in Hawai’‘i to describe a white person....
Delete...Yet if one can simply remember that, like many other words out there, it is all about the context and how you say it. The word can either convey a fact or an insult..."
There's also Hapa Haole which means a mixture of races. I've never thought of it as derogatory (although it can be used that way). I have three hapa haole nephews and two hapa haole grandsons and a haole daughter-in-law and haole sister-in-law. :-) Weird, but if I call someone a White person here in Hawaii, it would feel rather pejorative too. But maybe it's just me.
Never heard the term, but I'm not around kids much, snotty noses or not! You and your brother are adorable as little kids. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI'v heard people refer to kids as snot goblins, so this makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI have always liked the song from Mary Hopkin ...
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
「鼻バター」("Hana bataa" (lit. "Nose butter"))? For "runny nose"? But, in Japanese, "runny nose" is actually 「鼻水」("Hana-mizu" (lit. "Nose water").
ReplyDeleteI guess Hawaii has many original words...some from Japanese.