Pohō

1.  Loss, damage; out of luck; vain.  
2.  Bog, swamp, mire, slough; sunken, sinking, to settle, as earth.

Those of you familiar with this word surely know it wasn't commonly used to refer to #2 above.  More likely it was used in the context of #1, that is, when something is "waste time."  Pohō.  Neva mind.  Now this is a word that I always heard, especially from my dad.  It hasn't lost its steam, like many other Hawaiian words that were used a lot in small kid time.  Not every Hawaiian word can stand on its own in the midst of an English sentence.  Pohō definitely can.

"Pohō help you guys!"  "Das pohō already."  "Pohō clean dis yard wit all da weeds!"

Here's an interesting 'ōlelo no'eau using pohō:

Pohō i ka mālama i ko ha'i keakea!
A waste of effort to take care of someone else's semen!
(Usually said in anger by one who cares for the children of another.  Also expressed "Pohō i ka mālama i ko ha'i kūkae!"  A waste of effort to take care of someone else's excreta.

Well, hopefully all is not pohō in today's word!