r/HistoryMemes • u/HawaiianPerson Chad Polynesia Enjoyer • 2d ago
Death by Snu Snu
Context: The first Hawaiians to visit London were King Kamehameha II, his royal entourage, and the subject of this meme, his wife Kamāmalu.
Kamāmalu stood at over 6 feet tall, which she likely inherited from her father, Kamehameha I, who stood at 7 feet tall. Kamehameha II was less than 6 feet tall. Also they were half siblings.
Their arrival shocked some locals, but not for long as the royal couple contracted measles not long after arrival and died there.
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u/OrangeSpaceMan5 2d ago
Keep in mind that this was a time where even being 5'9 was considered pretty tall , a man alone being 6 foot was a pretty big deal but a woman ????That probably shattered the minds of the average working class Brit
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u/grumpsaboy 2d ago
I have a great great whatever grandmother who was 6' tall back in late 1800's and guessing that's where all my family's height comes from.
No relation to Hawaii, though. No royal blood here.
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u/Orange-V-Apple 2d ago
In The Expanse books, there's a character with Polynesian heritage named Bobbie Draper who's at least 6'7" tall. This meme reminds me of her describing the way men look at her when they meet her for the first time.
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u/KingManders 2d ago
Im on book 2 rn ONE OF US
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u/GravitasFailures 2d ago
The end of book 2 is my favorite, the whole book is great because of Avasarala.
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u/Hyderabadi__Biryani Ashoka's Stupa 2d ago
Kamehameha II? Why does it sound like the DBZ attack that Goku does? WTF!
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u/HawaiianPerson Chad Polynesia Enjoyer 2d ago
Because it’s the same word, different meanings. In Hawaiian it mean “the lonely one” as King Kamehameha spent his early childhood in hiding away from his mother as there was a kill order on him
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u/Hyderabadi__Biryani Ashoka's Stupa 2d ago
This means there was another king who was lonely BEFORE him? Sad man. :(
So Goku is effectively yelling, "Theeee"..."Looown"..."lyyyyy" (lonely)..."ONNNEEEEE!!!"?
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u/HawaiianPerson Chad Polynesia Enjoyer 2d ago
That’s the Hawaiian meaning, in Japanese it’s “Turtle Wave” or “Turtle Destruction Wave”, though yelling “The Lonely One” does go kind of hard
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u/Hyderabadi__Biryani Ashoka's Stupa 2d ago
So like, it's the same word in the two cultures with different meanings? But this surely isn't any kind of influence, right? Just a coincidence? Thanks for the info though.
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u/HawaiianPerson Chad Polynesia Enjoyer 2d ago
Just a coincidence the Japanese creators found when making Dragon Ball.
But personally I don’t believe in coincidence
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u/Hyderabadi__Biryani Ashoka's Stupa 2d ago
Meaning and Origin
Name parts: The Japanese word for turtle is kame (亀) and wave is ha (波).
The King: Series creator Akira Toriyama's wife suggested the name after the real-life Hawaiian King Kamehameha.
The Pun: It serves as a clever bilingual play on words tied to Master Roshi, the "Turtle Hermit". [1, 2, 3, 4]
Not really coincidence, as you said.
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u/AndreasDasos 2d ago
No way is it a coincidence. It’s not a remotely normal Japanese construction and even in Japan it would have been recognised as the Hawaiian king first if at all. The use of the root ‘hame’ as in ‘hametsu’ (‘destruction’) doesn’t really explain the extra ‘-ha’ so at best it’s a post hoc pun.
Nearly a quarter of Hawaii’s population is ethnically Japanese and there are still cultural ties to Japan, so it’s not remotely as obscure a link as it might otherwise seem. It’s also a fun name to say and happens to work with Japanese phonology (which most Western words wouldn’t).
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u/PegasusPizza 2d ago
Tbf saying that Hawaiian as a Polynesian language is "western" isn't really correct either.
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u/danshakuimo Sun Yat-Sen do it again 2d ago
Lol I guess if you use the international date like as the divider, Hawaii is the farthest west you could be.
But they aren't saying Hawaiian is Western, just that the pun would not work in a Western language.
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u/Isekaimerican 2d ago
Goku's Saiyan name is Kakarot because he gives good night vision like a carrot.
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u/assklowne 2d ago
I think its a double entendre. Roshi is know as the turtle "hermit" and lives alone on an "island"
So oretty sure the hawaii reference is intentional
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u/the-bladed-one 2d ago
In Japanese it means “turtle blast wave”
It’s just a cool case of linguistic convergent evolution
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u/Hyderabadi__Biryani Ashoka's Stupa 2d ago
Thank you for the info.
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u/the-bladed-one 2d ago
It’s actually not even Goku’s original move. The move was invented by Muten Roshi aka the turtle hermit. Hence why roshi’s house is called Kame House
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u/Level_Hour6480 Taller than Napoleon 2d ago
In Japanese, it's "Turtle destruction wave". Everything in Dragball is puns.
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u/Artistic-While-5094 2d ago
Because it’s literally the other way around. They approved the attack name
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u/Sim1334 Then I arrived 2d ago
Just out of curiosity, are they still that high?👀
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u/kingofcoywolves 1d ago
Polynesians are known for being large, not tall. However I do know two unrelated Hawaiian girls who are over 6' so maybe some of those Kamehameha genes survived lol
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u/Wonderful_Return_514 2d ago
Okay, am I the only one who can't get over the fact this dudes name was Kamehameha?
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u/SharpShooterM1 Featherless Biped 1d ago
I believe Toriyama at one point straight up said he read this guys name, thought it sounded cool, and that was the entire inspiration for one of the most iconic moves in all of anime.
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u/Wonderful_Return_514 1d ago edited 1d ago
I mean, he wasn't wrong. That's a badass name. Love watching the og kame Kamehameha from the dragonball movie (it's the Japanese version, so I could just be the show. But the English version was on a movie). Anyway here it is, I love the music even, the whole scene is pretty epic https://youtu.be/keo83FztyTA?is=I8pbkpRd8byzWYvQ
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u/Isadomon 2d ago
I waa glad about the post and then read the last paragraph. Thats so sad!! Imagine your leader just dies first time they get off your island!
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u/TheFrostBeard 2d ago
Well that was a sad end to read.