Indulgences

1. ʻŌkolehao

   ʻŌkolehao (liquor distilled from ti root)

   Usage

   Hawaiʻi's own distilled spirit, now revived under the same name by craft distilleries on Oʻahu and elsewhere

   Grammar Note

   The ti of the recipe is the plant sense of kī (Cordyline terminalis), a different word from the borrowed kī meaning tea

2. Lama

   Lama (rum; any intoxicating drink)

   Usage

   Example: "He kanaka inu lama" (a person fond of drinking)

   Grammar Note

   The same spelling covers unrelated words: the endemic ebony (Diospyros), a sacred wood used on heiau and hula altars, and "torch, light, lamp." The liquor is the third sense, so do not use the word without context

3. Pia

   Pia (beer)

   Usage

   Examples: "Bia nui" (lager beer) and "Bia wei" (weiss beer). Hawaiʻi's craft-beer labels are written in English

   Grammar Note

   The same spelling also means Polynesian arrowroot (Tacca leontopetaloides), the original thickener in haupia. In a cooking context pia means the arrowroot, not the drink

4. Paka

   Paka (tobacco)

   Usage

   Hawaiʻi bans smoking in enclosed public places, restaurants and many beaches; the signage is usually the English "No Smoking"

   Grammar Note

   The spelling is heavily polysemous. The long-vowel pāka is a different word meaning "park; to park a car"

5. Puhi paka

   Puhi paka (to smoke tobacco; a smoker)

   Usage

   It works as both verb and noun. Useful when looking for a smoking area or asking the people you are with

   Grammar Note

   The prohibition sign is Mai puhi paka; mai is the negative imperative particle

6. Mea ʻono

   Mea ʻono (cake, pastry, dessert)

   Usage

   Literally "delicious thing." Use it for a bakery case or the dessert end of a lūʻau buffet

   Grammar Note

   Adding puaʻa (pig) gives mea ʻono puaʻa, the steamed pork bun (manapua)

7. Kokoleka

   Kokoleka (chocolate)

   Usage

   Cacao is grown on Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu and single-origin bars are sold as souvenirs, though the packaging is in English

   Grammar Note

   A phonetic adaptation of English "chocolate." Hawaiian has eight consonants and five vowels and no closed syllables, so loanwords take epenthetic vowels — the same process as kope from coffee, kī from tea and pia from beer

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