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OP While perusing OED I ran across "tutu" which OED gives as a Maori word for a plant - also - becoming acclimated to native life - also - a ballerina's short skirt.
In Hawaiian tutu is an informal word for a grandparent
In Hawaii a child would say "I am staying with my Tutu" meaning her grandmother and everyone would interpret it that way.
Grandmother = Tutu Wahine - more formally Kupuna Wahine.
Grandfather = Tutu Kane - more formally Kupuna Kane.
How come OED got the Maori and missed the Hawaiian?
Tsuwm, you out there?
How do we straighten those folks out!?!?!?
An Aside: Kane is pronounced Kaaa-nay.
Can be confusing for newcomer haoles who are named Kane.
Thanks wow - it is, apparently, coriaria arborea its twigs are used for making a blue-black dye.In reply to:
Grandmother = Tutu Wahine - more formally Kupuna Wahine.
Grandfather = Tutu Kane - more formally Kupuna KaneIn Maaori, tipuna wahine and tipuna taane respectively, but granddad is always Koro, and granny is almost always Nan
T and K are different representations of the same phoneme in Hawaiian. The actual sound is halfway between the two sounds as heard in English. The name for the king we know as Kamehameha is sometimes written Tamehameha.
The previous expostulation is from the Faldage Junk Drawer Memory® and does not necessarily reflect reality in any meaningful way. It is provided for your amusement only. Any insights gained from this experience are entirely your responsibility.
>How do we straighten those folks out!?!?!?
from the FWIW dept: W3 has all three senses of tutu (Maaori, French, Hawaiian). I guess the Hawaiian was just *too foreign for James Murray; or they haven't gotten around to it yet (they have just recently finished "M", the first letter of their online updates--three(3!) years to do one letter).
if you're really concerned about getting this (or any other word) into the updated OED, I know just the person you should write: Jesse Sheidlower, Principal Editor (North America).
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