vs. Fragile, easily torn, as rotting cloth; pulverized, smashed. 

Here is a small kid time word that is commonly used to refer to an over-ripe fruit. Palahē. You know when you forget that papaya sitting out on the counter, waiting to get ripe and then it passes that “ripe” stage and heads on over to the palahē stage? Palahē. Da buggah stay all palahē. Leaking all over the counter. In my small kid days it was used in reference to those mangoes fallen on the ground as we scampered around to find one that was edible. Just grab a good part of the skin with your mouth and pull down.

I heard a native speaker use palahē in reference to firewood that is used in the imu. When the wood is burned down ready to be filled with puaʻa, ʻuala, and kalo, the wood is palahē.

Pala is the word for ripe. Hē refers to grave or to scrape. Think of palahē as fruit that is ripe for the grave or fruit that is scrapable.

Moʻa palahē – overcooked to the point of falling apart, as meat.

Poluku ʻia a palahē ke kino – a body pounded and mashed.

Palahē ka hēʻī – The papaya is overripe.

Copyright: 2015 – Liana Iaea Honda. All rights reserved. All versions of He Momi e Lei ai”, in its entirety, past and present, is the property of L. K. I. Honda. Reproduction and use of any kind other than the sharing of this website is prohibited. Alteration to the original content in any form is prohibited in every and any instance, and use in any other variant is prohibited without written consent of the author. Adress inquiries to: hemomi [at] gmail.com. Definitions and wise sayings are from: Hawaiian Dictionary by Pukui and Elbert, 1986. ʻŌlelo Noʻeau – Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings by Mary Kawena Pukui, 1983.