Regional Idiosyncrasies

A new blog post? Huzzah!

I have a short post for you all today about interesting regional oddities I have found here in Hawaii and how they compare to other places I have been.

Do you ever notice that there are certain names that small businesses always have where you live? Let me give you an example: In Texas, there are a huge amount of small business named "Lone Star (Thing)". Lone Star Title Loan, Lone Star Used Car Dealers, Lone Star Cafe, Lone Star Gun Range, Lone Star Dishwasher Repairs, whatever. I do not know if they are just unoriginal or if they are trying to invoke some kind of regional pride, but I do know there are a ton of them around.

In Hawaii, the offender in this case is "Ohana". There is Ohana Everything. Gas stations, grocery stores, lawyers, plumbers, you name it, it is named Ohana somewhere. Ohana means "family" in Hawaiian. However, they aren't just talking about blood relations. It is deeper than that. Ohana means anyone you call your family. It can be blood relations, sure, but it can just as easily be your adoptive family. Or your neighbors. It is the reason I saw a little girl on the beach back in this blog talk about her "uncle". They aren't related by blood but these people see each other as ohana, which is bigger than the traditional definition of family. It is an interesting idiosyncrasy and just a little endearing to a haole like myself.

Are there any weird regional terms that have come to be on every business you know? Let me know what they are because I have found thinking about this intensely interesting. Happy Friday and have a good day!