Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., Mullet (Mugil cephalus 🌐), a very choice indigenous fish. Figuratively, an easy mark (modern slang).

• Examples:
  • Mai piʻikoi i ka ʻamaʻama! Donʻt strive for the ʻamaʻama fish! [be satisfied with what you have, why look for a rich person?]
• Related:
  • Stages are (finger length) pua ʻama, pua ʻamaʻama, pua poʻolā, ʻoʻolā; (hand length) kahaha (or pahaha); (20 cm) ʻamaʻama; (30 cm or more) ʻanae.
• References:
  • See ʻōpele #2.
  • PCP kumakama.

2. Reduplication of ʻama #1, ʻama #2.

Striped mullet (Mugil cephalus). Occurs along open coasts, usually cached in fish ponds. It dredges its food, diato and other organic matter, from the bottom. Grows to more than 12 inches. This was and is a highly prized fish. It was cared for as a vocation in the fish ponds of ancient Hawaiʻi.

To reveal secrets; to speak of anotherʻs faults, to slander. ʻAmaʻama ka waha i ka haʻi, a mouth gossiping about others.

Mullet. Damon v. Tsutsui, 31 Haw. 678, 680 (1930).