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prettygoodwordA second week of words from Polynesian languages, though this one is arguably an edge case:
mai tai (MAI-tai) - n., a cocktail containing rum, curaçao, orgeat, and lime, and sometimes other fruit juices.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
One of the characteristic drinks of tiki culture and thus, entirely typically, has nothing whatsoever to do with Polynesian culture. The drink was invented by Victor J. Bergeron in 1944 for Trader Vic’s, the original Oakland, California, location for his chain of tiki bars — though Donn Beach of the rival chain Don’s Beachcomber (later Don the Beachcomber) claimed Bergeron simplified one of his earlier drinks. The name is supposed to be from Tahitian maitaʻi, good (note that’s three syllables), and the story is that one of the first taste testers exclaimed “Maitaʻi!” (or “Maitai!”?) when sampling it. I am … dubious, and some dictionaries go with “origin unknown.” [Sidebar: Mai tais were not introduced to Hawaii till 1953, which I mention solely to have a hook to add that the Hawaiian cognate of maitaʻi is maikaʻi and the Maori cognate is maitai (two syllables). Which last … hmmm.]
---L.
mai tai (MAI-tai) - n., a cocktail containing rum, curaçao, orgeat, and lime, and sometimes other fruit juices.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
One of the characteristic drinks of tiki culture and thus, entirely typically, has nothing whatsoever to do with Polynesian culture. The drink was invented by Victor J. Bergeron in 1944 for Trader Vic’s, the original Oakland, California, location for his chain of tiki bars — though Donn Beach of the rival chain Don’s Beachcomber (later Don the Beachcomber) claimed Bergeron simplified one of his earlier drinks. The name is supposed to be from Tahitian maitaʻi, good (note that’s three syllables), and the story is that one of the first taste testers exclaimed “Maitaʻi!” (or “Maitai!”?) when sampling it. I am … dubious, and some dictionaries go with “origin unknown.” [Sidebar: Mai tais were not introduced to Hawaii till 1953, which I mention solely to have a hook to add that the Hawaiian cognate of maitaʻi is maikaʻi and the Maori cognate is maitai (two syllables). Which last … hmmm.]
---L.
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Date: 2026-01-12 07:59 pm (UTC)Yeah; one thing about exoticism is that it blurs the distinctions between cultures into an indeterminate blob of Theme Park Land (and therefore complicates attempts to figure out genuine lines of relationship and influence.)
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Date: 2026-01-12 08:21 pm (UTC)Not the only problem, but it is indeed a problem.
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Date: 2026-01-12 08:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-12 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-12 11:33 pm (UTC)glares Jamaicanly at you
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Date: 2026-01-13 02:19 am (UTC):shrug: I'm more of a cider kind of guy.
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Date: 2026-01-13 04:33 am (UTC)My New England side will allow that.
(hahahahhhahaha bwee)
A digression…
Date: 2026-01-12 09:18 pm (UTC)I’m not going to defend the obvious Unfortunate Implications involved, but it hit me that Bergeron, as both an amputee and an unabashed bullslinger, is a likely suspect to have originated that story.
(1) Tell Me Another Joke (1964) by Ralph Underwood, illustrated by Susan Perl.