Merciless, heartless, evil, malevolent, barbarous, cruel; such a person.

Loko ʻino – two words. First word, loko, refers to the insides. During my small kid time, many a lūʻau served, amongst the usual flair, loko. That’s the insides. I can remember watching my grandma preparing loko. After the men killed the pig and gutted it, prepping it for the imu, my grandma would take everything that was i loko (inside)—the heart, liver, lungs, kidney, everything (almost) — and make the loko. Plenty garlic. The blood. At least that is what I am remembering. Do you remember loko?

ʻIno is everything that is bad, wicked and vicious. It is also the word for storm, for something that is foul and spoiled. It is also translates as to injure, harm, or break. As you can tell it is not a good word.

So put together loko ʻino means “bad insides”. Isn’t that a great description for someone that is that way? Hawaiians know. If you’re evil, your insides must be all foul!

Auē nō hoʻi ē, he kanaka loko ʻino ʻo Likeke – Goodness gracious, Richard is an evil man (no offense to any Richards out there).

He loko ʻino kona – He has bad insides.

Hōʻike ʻia ka loko ʻino o ke kanaka ma o kāna hana – The evil ways of man is known through his deeds.

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.