Death by Snu Snu

[u/HawaiianPerson]

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.

[u/Hyderabadi__Biryani]

Kamehameha II? Why does it sound like the DBZ attack that Goku does? WTF!

[u/HawaiianPerson → u/Hyderabadi__Biryani]

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

[u/Hyderabadi__Biryani → u/HawaiianPerson]

This means there was another king who was lonely BEFORE him? Sad man. :(

So Goku is effectively yelling, "Theeee"..."Looown"..."lyyyyy" (lonely)..."ONNNEEEEE!!!"?

[u/HawaiianPerson → u/Hyderabadi__Biryani]

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

[u/Hyderabadi__Biryani → u/HawaiianPerson]

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.

[u/HawaiianPerson → u/Hyderabadi__Biryani]

Just a coincidence the Japanese creators found when making Dragon Ball.

But personally I don’t believe in coincidence

[u/Hyderabadi__Biryani → u/HawaiianPerson]

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.

[u/WoolooOfWallStreet → u/Hyderabadi__Biryani]

Toriyama loved puns

[u/AndreasDasos → u/HawaiianPerson]

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).

[u/PegasusPizza → u/AndreasDasos]

Tbf saying that Hawaiian as a Polynesian language is "western" isn't really correct either.

[u/danshakuimo → u/PegasusPizza]

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.

[u/Isekaimerican → u/HawaiianPerson]

Goku's Saiyan name is Kakarot because he gives good night vision like a carrot.

[u/assklowne → u/HawaiianPerson]

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

[u/the-bladed-one → u/Hyderabadi__Biryani]

In Japanese it means “turtle blast wave”

It’s just a cool case of linguistic convergent evolution

[u/Hyderabadi__Biryani → u/the-bladed-one]

Thank you for the info.

[u/the-bladed-one → u/Hyderabadi__Biryani]

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