fela
- (v.) to be straight
- (adj.) straight
- (n.) straightness
Fela, ewelimia oku.
“Straight, no chaser.”
Notes: That is a highly literal translation that most certainly does not mean in Kamakawi what it means in English. It, in fact, is nonsense—which is precisely what I thought of the phrase “straight, no chaser” the first time I heard it.
You see, I’m not an alcohol drinker, myself. In fact, I’ve never drunk alcohol in my life (or, at least, not yet. After thirty years, though, I see no real reason to start). Sure, there might be some used in food or a dessert here and there, but the actual alcohol bakes out, leaving just the flavor (or so I’m told). So there’s a large gap in my knowledge having to do with alcohol. In fact, sometimes the only thing that prevented me from cleaning up in Trivial Pursuit (the old one that was actually challenging) was the fact that there were questions about mixed drinks in the “Sports and Leisure” category (apparently cocktail knowledge gets classified as a “leisure” activity).
The first time I heard the phrase “straight, no chaser”, then, was the song “Straight, No Chaser” by Miles Davis (this was some time in college [and the song is actually by Thelonious Monk. The Miles Davis cover was the first version I heard]). The words made absolutely no sense to me (something like “scooter, stitched shaved”), and I thought it was either jazz or music lingo that I didn’t know (this, perhaps, was influenced by the song “Two Bass Hit” from the same album). And so I believed for many years, until finally my wife explained what a chaser was (and once you know that, “straight” makes enough sense).
Anyway, so this Kamakawi translation is actually appropriate for understanding how I understood the words originally. This would be a great way to translate my experience of incomprehension to native Kamakawi speakers. Since none are about, though, this is rather an exercise in futility.
But the reason I even translated this was because after today’s day in football, I sure feel like I could use a shot of something straight (i.e. if I did, in fact, drink [which I don't]). Man! I got murdilized! (Or should that be “moydilized”…?) I mean, I could still win, if Daniel Thomas gets…36 points (which would be near the best performance for any running back this season—and he’s a rookie), but in all likelihood, I’m going to drop to a shameful 3-3 on the season. Sigh…
In other news, this iku is an ikuleyaka that might look a bit reminiscent of uevolu, but it’s different in several obvious ways. Basically, the “ground” determinative is being used to point out the straightness of the line—and since a shortened line would be too short, it extends through the determinative, which is something one usually doesn’t see in an ikuleyaka. Orthographic rules are for breaking, though, I suppose.
