Mucho Mahalo?

[Rick H Kennerly]

|o| (l) I haven't heard "much mahalos" as much as "mucho mahalos"
|o| The "mucho
|o| mahalos" could be a contemporary pidgin combining influences from the
|o| portuguese and puerto rican groups in our state who immigrated
|o| to Hawaii in
|o| the late 1800's/early 1900's.
|o|

Do you think?  I rehabbed for a year after Vietnam at the Army hospital on
Oahu and don't recall this phrase, even though I spent a good deal of
leisure time out and about among the youth culture, being one myself back
then.  I visited again in the mid-90s and found Mucho Mahalos  used
everywhere, from tourist trap floor show MC banter to surf shops salespeople
to restaurant menus.  To my ear, it has the ring of a Southern California
Parrothead, Cheeseburger in Paradise import.

rhk