Tuesday, October 20, 2009

ʻīlio

1. Dog. 
2. A generic term for foreign quadruped.  
3. Cloud 
4. Tie beam in a house, brace that holds rafter to crossbeam. 
5. A seaweed





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Though there are five different meanings, the most common is the first one, dog.

    Polynesians brought with them to these islands a small ʻīlio that was primarily used as a food source, sometimes as a sacrifice and also as pets.  These first "four legged settlers" no longer exist in their pure state as inter-breeding has thinned out their bloodline.  It is hard for some to fathom that Hawaiians ate ʻīlio but, hey, I hear they are low in fat and quite good tasting.  I will take their word for it, just like frog legs, I'm sure.  Some accounts say that women were not allowed to eat ʻīlio but I'm not sure about that.  Below are some ʻīlio terms:


ʻīlio pulu - bulldog

ʻīlio mo'o - brindled dog

ʻīlio hahai - greyhound (chasing dog)

ʻīlio hahai manu - bird dog (bird chasing dog)

He ʻīlio ka'u - I have a dog

'a'ohe a'u ʻīlio - I don't have any dogs

'ai nō ka 'īlio i kona lua'i
a dog eats his own vomit
 (Said of one who says nasty things of others and then has those very things happen to himself)

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