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August 27, 2008 7:10 PM

What is huhu ?

just read Heinlein's book 'The Moon is A Harsh Mistress', noticed that the word huhu used everywhere, but not grok its meaning in fullness.

Google not helping, anybody can help?

posted by joewandy to writing & language (14 comments total)

Was this your first time? I'm so jealous. From the context, I took it to be likethe Australian phrase "no worries" or to mean no fuss.
posted by b33j at 7:21 PM on August 27, 2008

I recall that it's used in the phrase "no huhu", usually. I reckon that means something like "no sweat".
posted by Netzapper at 7:22 PM on August 27, 2008

It is part of Heinlein's "moon prison colony" jargon, or so I always assumed. I also assumed it was a synonym for 'fuss' or 'worries'.

Heinlein is famous for this, introducing a new aspect of an imagined world as though it were understood by the reader. In one essay, Samuel Delany analyzes one sentence from a Heinlein novel - "The door dilated." - for three or four pages.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:11 PM on August 27, 2008

If you Google "no huhu" you will find that the phrase is very common in Hawaiian English and/or Hawaiian Creole. I recall reading somewhere that it meant "no hurry" but cannot find cite now, and I do not actually speak Hawaiian Creole.
posted by eritain at 8:14 PM on August 27, 2008

Netzapper has it. "No huhu" is very like "no problem". An Oahu pizza chain had it as their slogan for years. I only decline to name them because the pizza wasn't very good.
posted by jet_silver at 8:25 PM on August 27, 2008

OMG, I love this thread. ikkyu2, you rock, I always loved that aspect of RAH. I'm jealous, too, b33j, I read him in high school, finished him in college, and wish I could go back.
posted by JimN2TAW at 8:46 PM on August 27, 2008

thanks guys ... i am just starting to catch up on all the classics i'd missed, starting with Heinlein. Reading at a rate of 1 book for every 3 days.

Next is ... Time Enough for Love
posted by joewandy at 8:55 PM on August 27, 2008

According to my copy of Pidgin To Da Max, a Hawaiian transplant's guide to local lingo,

HUHU (HOO hoo) To be upset.
Haloe: "Relax. Don't get upset."
Pidgin: " No huhu, brah."
posted by nomisxid at 9:00 PM on August 27, 2008

oh wow, I'm reading this now also - my first Heinlein novel ever. love it.....
posted by anitanita at 11:16 PM on August 27, 2008

TMIAHM is probably his very best novel. It's the one I like best, anyway. It seems to me that nothing he wrote after that hit the right notes. Good parts in all his books, for sure, but for sustained interest and invention, that's the one for me.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 6:42 AM on August 28, 2008

To be pedantic, the Hawaiian word is actually huhū, with long final u; it means 'anger,' 'angry,' or 'become angry.'
posted by languagehat at 7:17 AM on August 28, 2008

It's from the Chinese phrase MaMa HuHu, or horse horse tiger tiger. Which is an adjective over there that means that something is good (good) and also bad (tiger).


At least that is how I figure because he mentions Chinese folks up there repeatedly.
posted by BobbyDigital at 8:44 AM on August 28, 2008

Ma ma hu hu (horse horse tiger tiger in Chinese) actually means doing things carelessly or saying "whatever, doesn't matter anyway", so probably not what you're looking for.
posted by monocot at 9:46 AM on August 28, 2008

Next is ... Time Enough for Love

You should be aware that opinions are...divided...concerning Heinlein's post-TMIAHM work.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:34 PM on August 28, 2008