What's in a street name? Ask some folks in Kailua. Their street is only a block long but for a while they had a choice. Signs of identity crisis
for Kailua streetAt one end of the street it was called Kuuniu. The Hawaiian roughly translates as "my dear coconut."
At the other end it was called Kuunui. "Nui" in Hawaiian is "big," so it's "my dear big," whatever that means.
Brita Chilecki, who lives there, faxed, "Hiya. Here's one for you," explained her addressorial conundrum and then signed off, "What's the deal? Hugs-Kisses, Brita."
Brita, let's get it straight. The official, internationally accepted nomenclature for hugs and kisses is XXOO.
Street signs are a more difficult matter. A quick check in the phone book and in the map book reveals that a Kuuniu is listed, but not a Kuunui. So, the correct name is most likely My Dear Coconut Street.
It's unlikely that the City was simply trying to give us a kind of street-name affirmative action, providing a variety of choices so that we can make our own decisions. Democracy doesn't extend to spelling, or so my esteemed editor claims.
Chances are the street-sign names are just an error, courtesy of the city's street-sign painter, that miserable overworked wretch. The last two letters were simply transposed, so give him a break. Honolulu, after all, is the city that spells Britannia as "Beretania."
If you suspect that your street sign is misspelled, call the Mayor's Office of Information and Complaint at 523-4381 and let them know. They'll dispatch -- or is it despatch? -- a street-sign correction SWAT team.
As it turned out, the City, moving quickly for once, had already corrected the sign before our photographer got anywhere near the scene. But Brita, you didn't imagine it.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin.