ALOHA MAKAHIKI HOU!

Aloha Makahiki Hou!

Welcome back! I hope you all had enjoyable moments with your friends and family over the holidays.

You might have noticed various posts on social media using different Hawaiian phrases to wish people a Happy New Year. If you're curious, you might have wondered, "Why are there so many different ones?" or "Which one is the best?" Let's explore...

Hauoli makahiki hou is a poor translation. Hauoli isn't a traditional Hawaiian greeting word, and this phrase can be translated as "new year joy," which is not what we're looking for. So, let's set that one aside. 

Hapenuia is a transliteration, utilizing the Hawaiian alphabet to represent the English phrase "Happy New Year." While creative, it's not a traditional Hawaiian word, and we can discard it as well.

Aloha makahiki hou stands out as the best and most fitting choice. All these words are traditional Hawaiian. Aloha is a timeless greeting and farewell used since ancient times, documented in the 1800s and 1900s by Hawaiians of that era. I highly recommend using this phrase over the others.

Feel free to send me a Happy New Year email using the phrase "Aloha Makahiki Hou" to start making it a habit.

Me ke aloha,

Malu

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