What is Makapia Ear?
Nathan Yuen
After using the term "makapia ear" in a recent post, I decided to consult
my pocket Hawaiian dictionary to see what "makapia" means. But alas...
much to my chagrin, I discovered that it lacks such an entry. The closest
it has is "maka piapia" which means "eyes sticky with vicous matter; watery
eyes". As far as what I know, "makapia ear" means "hard of hearing" or
something like that. Can some kind soul with a Hawaiian dictionary, tell
us what "makapia" means? And for those of you pidgin scholars out there
<hint> <hint>, can you share with us what "makapia ear" means?
[And yes Susan... the time has come for me to invest in the complete
version of the Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary.]
--
o o __ __
\ / ' ` Mai hehi ia'u (Don't Tread on Me!)
|/ / __ \
(` \ ' ' \ ' Nathan Yuen, Ewa Beach, Hawaii
\ \| | @_/ |
\ \ \ /--/ ny...@lava.net, ny...@aloha.net
` ___ ___ ___ __ '
Nathan P Yuen
Nathan Yuen (ny...@lava.net) wrote:
: The closest it has is "maka piapia" which means "eyes sticky with vicous
: matter; watery eyes". ^^^^^^
Ooops... I meant to type "viscous". Why does this always happen to me? <g>
--
o o __ __
\ / ' ` Don't Tread on Me!
Nathan P Yuen
J. Michael Midkiff (jmid...@gas.uug.arizona.edu) wrote:
: Always used maka piapia eyes for tired or sore eyes. Since maka is eye
: it would be strange to use it in reference to nose...but language evolves
: so consider yourself a pioneer. I've heard some people's heads refered to
: as butts so sniff with your eyes, see with your nose, walk on your hands,
: laugh out your ears and piss out your elbow...after all, true originality
: seems rare these days.
Nope... I didn't invent it. The term "makapia ear", pronouced as "maka
peeya eeya", is a pidgin term (I believe) that's been in use for many many
years. But you're right... maka is "eye". It's curious how it became to
describe someone who is "deaf".
J. Michael Midkiff
Nathan Yuen wrote:
>
> After using the term "makapia ear" in a recent post, I decided to consult
> my pocket Hawaiian dictionary to see what "makapia" means. But alas...
> much to my chagrin, I discovered that it lacks such an entry. The closest
> it has is "maka piapia" which means "eyes sticky with vicous matter; watery
> eyes". As far as what I know, "makapia ear" means "hard of hearing" or
> something like that. Can some kind soul with a Hawaiian dictionary, tell
> us what "makapia" means? And for those of you pidgin scholars out there
> <hint> <hint>, can you share with us what "makapia ear" means?
>
> [And yes Susan... the time has come for me to invest in the complete
> version of the Pukui-Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary.]
>
> --
> o o __ __
> \ / ' ` Mai hehi ia'u (Don't Tread on Me!)
> |/ / __ \
> (` \ ' ' \ ' Nathan Yuen, Ewa Beach, Hawaii
> \ \| | @_/ |
> \ \ \ /--/ ny...@lava.net, ny...@aloha.net
> ` ___ ___ ___ __ '
Sam Gon III
Nathan P Yuen wrote:
> Nope... I didn't invent it. The term "makapia ear", pronouced as "maka
> peeya eeya", is a pidgin term (I believe) that's been in use for many many
> years. But you're right... maka is "eye". It's curious how it became to
> describe someone who is "deaf".
>
But Nathan, you have heard of the term "stink ear" right? After all it
is right out of Rap's room service routine:
"Eh Natan, Eh stink ear! You get pen??!"
Like I said, I think the stink part comes from ea infection, and the
shared mucous aspect of stink ear and maka piapia got combined in modern
pidgin to creat "makapia ear"
Aloha
--
Sam Gon III
Kapuaokaupe
[Kaupe is the kupua dog of Nu'uanu]
Here he is, swimming at Kapena:
/|/|
_ -@ @ \ .
%_____/ \ |\
U \ -_ / /
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Nathan P Yuen
Sam Gon III (sm...@aloha.net) wrote:
: But Nathan, you have heard of the term "stink ear" right? After all it
: is right out of Rap's room service routine:
: "Eh Natan, Eh stink ear! You get pen??!"
Hehehe! Yes, yes... I get pen.
: Like I said, I think the stink part comes from ea infection, and the
: shared mucous aspect of stink ear and maka piapia got combined in modern
: pidgin to creat "makapia ear"
Ahhh yes... an interesting play on phonics. So "maka piapia" becomes
"makapia ia" with "ia" being "ear". How interesting.
--
o o __ __
\ / ' ` Don't Tread on Me!