I originally conceived of this joke many years ago. When I told it to my wife, she indicated that the film Miss Congeniality had also made the same joke. I had never seen it, but she was a fan and insisted that we watch it. Not only did I think the movie was terrible, but also my version of the joke is so much better that I was a little insulted at the comparison.

You can use other languages besides Hawaiian, of course. Any language where hello and goodbye use the same word. Hebrew, for example, where shalom is used for both. My parents told me about a rabbi who named his kid Shalom. Presumably his intention was shalom's other meaning as a blessing, but in my head it's an Annyong situation.

Maybe it's because I'm a native English speaker, but the idea of having the same word mean two completely opposite things is a dumb way to...nevermind.

- Management