Talk:malamalama

RFV discussion: May–August 2015
Hawaiian English for 'enlightenment'. —Μετάknowledge discuss/deeds 02:52, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
 * It seems quite plausible, since Hawaiian mālamalama refers to light, including the metaphorical light of understanding, as well as the spiritual sense used in biblical translations. It's part of the motto of the University of Hawaii, and is the name of a periodical they publish. Given the abundance of New-Age-y folks in the area, it's entirely possible it has some limited usage in a few contexts.
 * That said, the only quotes I could find in Google Books, here and here, seem to be referring to the word as Hawaiian. There were hundreds of hits, but most were sentences in Hawaiian and Samoan (which also has the same word with the same meaning), references to a fish of the same name, to a place name, and to a given name. There were also quite a few New Age-themed books which had no previews. Google Books Groups had 42 hits, but they were all Hawaiian- or Samoan-language, placenames, or University of Hawaii-related. Chuck Entz (talk) 04:45, 11 May 2015 (UTC)

I wonder if manamana is Hawaiian for ‘Muppet’. Ƿidsiþ 06:39, 12 May 2015 (UTC)
 * It actually means "finger or toe", though it's accented on the wrong syllables for the song- Hawaiian doesn't do syncopation. Chuck Entz (talk) 06:54, 12 May 2015 (UTC)


 * RFV-failed. —Μετάknowledge discuss/deeds 20:36, 16 August 2015 (UTC)