humuhumunukunukuapua'a

 

I thought Grant was having a seizure today.

 

 

He was really trying to explain to me the name of this fish.

 

 

humuhumunukunukuapua'a

 

 

 

 

I had to look it up.

Thank goodness for internet since everything I read there is true.

Right?

 

 

This is what I found.......

 

 

 

When you visit Hawaii, you may come across this gigantic word that starts with H and has a bazillion letters. That’s the word humuhumunukunukuapua’a and it’s Hawaii’s state fish. The humuhumunukunukuapua’a is a tropical reef trigger fish that you’ll likely  see when you snorkel in Hawaii.
I used to think that I’d never be able to pronounce humuhumunukunukuapua’a, but it’s actually quite easy after you sound it out a time or two. Here’s how to pronounce it: “who-moo-who-moo-noo-koo-noo-koo-ah-pooah-ah” Easy, peasy, right?
Just in case it’s not slipping off your tongue, check out this link to a YouTube of Don Ho singing My Little Grass Shack. At about 1:10 into the video, you hear Don Ho singing humuhumunukunukuapua’a a few times. Sing along and you’ll soon be a pro.

 

 

 

So I found out it is a real fish

and that is its real name.

 

 

Those Hawaiians really like their words fancy, don't they?

 

 

 

 

 

I think the word is longer than the actual fish.

 

 

So how did this word roll so easily off the tongue of my six  year old?

 

Octonauts!!

 

Of course.

 

 

Thank you Disney Junior for making my son love everything ocean.

Thank you too for making mindless hours spent in front of a television

not so, well, MINDLESS!

 

We went to the Disney Junior website

 and printed off pictures of various sea creatures.

I quit counting at about forty.

 

You know....

ordinary everyday creatures ....

 

narwhals

slime eels

snot sea cucumbers

aggregate anemone

oar fish

cuttle fish

spook fish

black caiman

capybaras

 

 

 

Grace and Grant could name every single one of them.

 

 

 

Maybe I should monitor more closely how many hours 

Grace and Grant spend in front of the television.

Then again, I couldn't teach them about things such as the

 

humuhumunukunukuapua'a

 

 

 

 

Maybe television isn't so bad after all.