What does "Hala Ka Ukulele" mean?

hotnanas

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Just as the title says, what does "hala ka ukulele" mean?

Forgive me for being raised on the middle 48.
 
Just as the title says, what does "hala ka ukulele" mean?

Forgive me for being raised on the middle 48.

don't know if this is correct, but this dude said it means like a innocent taunt? This isn't me i just googled it.

"hala ka ukulele... for you people that aren't from hawaii... is kind of a "naney-naney boo boo" thing. the saying goes "hala ka ukulele peanut butter jelly mama made a baby"... different variations to the saying jack johnson uses goes as follows "humbalah okolele peanut butter jelly mama kissed the baby" or "alanka lanka lele peanut butter jelly mama kissed the baby"... a kid would usually say that when another kid did something wrong (i.e. break a vase or flush a ring down the toilet)...

banana pancakes is a specialty dish in hawai'i. it's usually eaten with macadamia nut syrup.

it's ono-licious! "
 
This saying has variations on all the islands but the gist of it is like,

"You did something that you're not supposed to, you're F'd in the A now" I think tat 'Mama made a baby', 'whatever whatever whatever' originated as like comebacks from the wrong doer but eventually got merged into 1 long string.

Basically kids say it when they know their friend or classmate did something that would warrant scoldings.

I grew up on Kauai and for some reason we said "Halala Coco Nana" Which sounds like no other version of this and I got laughed at a lot in college when saying it in front of other people"
 
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dang. :confused:

So, like...if my dogs got into my trash and made a huge mess, I could say "hala ka ukulele" or would I have to include the "momma made a baby" part?

:confused::confused::confused:
 
What the heck does the ukulele have to do with any of this? Why is the word ukulele in this saying?? I thought ukulele meant "jumping fleas".:eek:
 
What the heck does the ukulele have to do with any of this? Why is the word ukulele in this saying?? I thought ukulele meant "jumping fleas".:eek:

I guess 'uku technically does mean fleas, but its far more commonly used to refer to head lice.
 
dang. :confused:

So, like...if my dogs got into my trash and made a huge mess, I could say "hala ka ukulele" or would I have to include the "momma made a baby" part?

:confused::confused::confused:

Don't have to if you don't want to. Most of the times, people just shorten it to ,"HALA!"
 
I guess 'uku technically does mean fleas, but its far more commonly used to refer to head lice.

So...as the story goes... When the men jumped off the boat to greet the Hawaiians, they began to play their machetes or braguinhas and the locals thought their fingers moved so quickly up and down the frets that they said their fingers looked like jumping head lice....:eek:

Nice..I like this version mo' betta..
 
I have heard "hala!", but not "hala ka ukulele" (maybe it's just me?)

I think you guys mean "Hana okolele" as in "Hana okolele, peanut butter jelly" which is how I have always heard it here.

But yeah, Rayan is right.

You'd usually hear it from your friend to tease you when you do something dumb and you're going to get in trouble.

ex) Like when you play baseball and smash your neighbors window with the ball.
 
ya, small kid time me an my friends in Hilo used to say "halana ukulele ... peanut butter jelly ..." or "halanaaaaa!" or jus "haaaalaaaaa!" we somebody was goin get busted. i neva hea of "hala KA ukulele" befo. wat island dat comes from? we all know how different everybody's pidgin is eh, depends on wat island you from.
 
Don't have to if you don't want to. Most of the times, people just shorten it to ,"HALA!"


I have actually heard people say this before the word "HALA" it could mean something is the samoan language, or they just say it because it sounds cool
 
hala... wow. ive always said that. because i heard parents saying it to their kids when they would get in trouble. ive said it to my daughter countless times. and to my friends' kids too. thing is, we're all filipino and none from hawaii. funny how an expression can cross oceans and still maintain its meaning.
 
We say "Hala ka" in the Philippines when someone is in trouble. When I was a kid in the Philippines, I would often hear it when I'm in trouble...I would also use to others...I still use it now here in the U.S. :D

dass cool doc ... neva know, maybe was cuz get choke buk buk's in hawaii dat we say dat!
 
so, it's more like a third person phrase....

where my mom would be yelling at me, and my brother would be chiming in "Hala ka ukulele" (or your other island wordings)

???

please forgive me, I'm from Texas!
 
I talked to my mom about it today, she used to say, "hana kukulele hana kukule gon broke da okolele" when she was growing up.

I should have asked her before I posted.
 
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