# Hawaiian slang for 'big' -- Pepsi origin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833 "2020-08-23T17:49:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/1 "2020-08-23T17:49:57Z")
A breakfast I had at a hotel in Hawaii a few years ago, had a name using a Hawaiian word that IIRC meant ‘big’ or ‘generous’ or something like that. It was a big breakfast, including sausage, linguica, _and_ bacon. The word they used might have started with a B, but I don’t remember. ISTR that the slang word is somehow associated with Pepsi, perhaps a word they made up for a marketing campaign. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/2 "2020-08-23T18:19:39Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > A breakfast I had at a hotel in Hawaii a few years ago, had a name using a Hawaiian word that IIRC meant ‘big’ or ‘generous’ or something like that. It was a big breakfast, including sausage, linguica, _and_ bacon. The word they used might have started with a B, but I don’t remember. Google has lots of hits for Big Kahuna Buffet. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/3 "2020-08-23T18:21:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Google has lots of hits for Big Kahuna Buffet. No, it wasn’t a buffet. It was a named breakfast in the manner of ‘Grand Slam Breakfast’. The name was a single word that sounded like a word from the Hawaiian language, but which I _think_ was a word made up for a marketing campaign, followed by ‘Breakfast’. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/4 "2020-08-23T18:24:45Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Google has lots of hits for Big Kahuna Buffet. Do any predate [Pulp Fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Kahuna_Burger)? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/5 "2020-08-23T18:31:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Any ideas? “Mahalo” appears on trash cans and the occasional bit of McDonald’s signage, to the point where it’s sometimes mistaken for a brand name, and has a ‘generous’ meaning that sorta fits. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/6 "2020-08-23T18:38:55Z")
Not ‘mahalo’, which means ‘thank you’. The name of the breakfast was in the same style as ‘Lollapalooza Breakfast’ or ‘Cowabunga Breakfast’, where ‘lollapaloza’ or ‘cowabunga’ is a made-up word that has become popular. Let’s try this: Forget the ‘breakfast’ part. There is a Hawaiian-sounding word, which again I think is a made-up word for a Pepsi campaign years ago, that has come into at least some use as a slang word that means ‘big’ or ‘a lot’ or whatever. I seem to recall, though I am by no means certain, it starts with a ‘b’. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/7 "2020-08-23T18:51:27Z")
The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 or 13 letters (depending on what you count), and “b” is not one of them. The Hawaiian word for “big” or “large” or “much” is “nui”. “Mahalo” is generally understood to mean “thank you”, but Google Translate says it can also mean “generous”. I doubt that it would be understood that way if they had something like “Mahalo Breakfast” – the meaning of “thank you” is too entrenched, I think. Google also turned up an image for King’s Big Kahuna Sandwich, here: [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTau41llGVrXum78adxoyup6NNZim6rAmKlCL7TBi1Pyr0CgHWCNoro2E4fnp4&s) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTau41llGVrXum78adxoyup6NNZim6rAmKlCL7TBi1Pyr0CgHWCNoro2E4fnp4&s) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/8 "2020-08-23T18:54:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The word they used might have started with a B, but I don’t remember. I don’t think B is even in the Hawaiian alphabet. “Nui” is the adjective appended to anything big. ETA: Ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/9 "2020-08-23T18:58:18Z")
As I said, I believe it’s a made-up word from a company founded in the American South. My googling at the time suggested that it had come into slang usage. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/10 "2020-08-23T18:59:43Z")
“Big Kahuna” could be a slang in a lot of contexts. Kahuna is a native Hawaiian priest, and the slang usage “Big Kahuna” means any big-shot important honcho. So you could have Big Kahuna Breakfast, Big Kahuna lunch, Big Kahuna lots of things. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/11 "2020-08-23T19:02:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > “Big Kahuna” could be a slang in a lot of contexts. Kahuna is a native Hawaiian priest, and the slang usage “Big Kahuna” means any big-shot important honcho. > > So you could have Big Kahuna Breakfast, Big Kahuna lunch, Big Kahuna lots of things Google likewise has hits for “King Kamehameha breakfast". ---
**Author:** ![Vesicant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/43a26b/32.png) [@Vesicant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vesicant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/12 "2020-08-23T19:02:29Z")
Bambaacha (or Bamboocha) and Fanta? [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DynvZsUuDzw) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lmueDuxg_O8/hqdefault.jpg "Fanta - Bamboocha part ||") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmueDuxg_O8) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/13 "2020-08-23T19:11:14Z")
**Bamboocha!** THAT’S IT! > **[bumboocha - e-Hawaii](https://e-hawaii.com/pidgin/bumboocha/)** > > Bumboocha – Pidgin English Definition bumboocha (or bamboocha) (bahm boo cha) Definition: huge; large; big Used In A Sentence: The … So Fanta, not Pepsi. At least I remember it was a soft drink thing! Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/14 "2020-08-23T19:14:41Z")
That took less than an hour. We haven’t lost our collective touch despite decreased headcount and traffic. Bravo @Vesicant!! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-slang-for-big-pepsi-origin/918833/15 "2020-08-24T03:22:20Z")
Don’t tell Coca Cola. One of their product lines is Fanta. They tend to be tetchy about Pepsi getting credit. Glad we figured it out. We fought ignorance and won! And it didn’t take long.