Chapter: Humuhumunukunukuapua'a
A/N: I did try to say it out loud.
"Humuhumunukunukuapua'a."
"Bless you."
"I'm serious, Danny- that's its name."
"Well, I'm being serious when I saw that's ridiculous. Who names a fish humumuhumu-whatever?"
"It's a Hawaiian name. It means 'trigger fish with a snout shaped like a pig'."
Danny snorted.
Steve frowned. "You know, insulting our culture isn't going to win you any favors around here."
"Not insulting, babe. Just wondering whose bright idea it was to name the state fish after some unpronounceable tongue twister. Why not pick 'clownfish'? Everybody knows that one. But no, someone in the governor's office had to say, Hey, let's name the state fish after the longest word ever."
"I think there's a town in Wales with a longer name."
"It's not a contest." Or it shouldn't be. Names should be normal, pronounceable names, Danny thought logically, not a 50-character monstrosity. He sighed. "Say it again?"
Steve grinned. "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a."
"Does it get any easier?"
"Do you want me to say it five times fast?"
"No." But he spent the rest of the car ride practicing the name under his breath. After all, parent day at Grace's school was only a few days away, and Danny was not about to be outdone by Mr. Tommy's Perfect Parents who apparently worked with the Hawaiian state fish as part of their research at the aquarium. Grace had revealed that little tidbit right before belting out the name of the fish in perfect Hawaiian. It's easy, Danno, but if you can't say it, that's okay. It's just that Tommy's parents really like talking about their research, and you can't really talk about your work, so...
Danny sighed. "Humu-humu, unka...?"
"Humu-humu, nuku-nuku," Steve corrected patiently.
"Humu-humu, nuku-nuku, umpa?"
"A-pua-a."
Danny groaned. This was going to take forever...