A mongrel mob associate's grasp of history was sadly exposed in a Napier court when a judge asked him what he thought the term "sieg heil" meant.

"It's just another way of saying hi to the bros," Fabian Hungahunga, 21, replied when Judge Tony Adeane asked what he thought the term meant.

The term, adopted by the Nazi Party in the 1930s to signal obedience to the party's leader, Adolf Hitler, is commonly used by Mongrel Mob members.

Hungahunga had screamed the words, and other abuse, at the Napier team policing unit on the evening of New Year's Eve.

The intoxicated Hungahunga, who was with a group of associates, was arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour.

When he pleaded guilty to the charge in Napier District Court yesterday, Judge Adeane said, "What's this sieg heil business, Mr Hungahunga? ... What does that mean?"

"Ahhh, it's just another way of saying hi to the bros," Hungahunga replied.

"OK. The man who made the phrase popular would have a very different way of dealing with you, Mr Hungahunga. However, today you're fined $300 and court costs of $130," the judge said.

As Hungahunga left the dock, his lawyer Philip Jensen remarked that "it was a German phrase popular in the 60s in the Commando comics".

"Actually it goes back a bit further than that, Mr Jensen. It was made popular in the 30s when very different rules applied," Judge Adeane said.

As well as using "sieg heil", the Mongrel Mob also has an affinity with the swastika, which is often worn as a tattoo.

Hungahunga's appearance came at the end of a trying week for the judge who dealt with 66 drink-driving matters on yesterday's list and, on Monday, jailed a Gisborne man for contempt of court.

He sent James Kennedy Grant, 26, to prison for 28 days.

Grant had been in the public gallery of Gisborne District Court the previous week to support a friend.

He was unhappy at the outcome of his friend's appearance and, just as he was leaving, yelled out to Judge Adeane: "Is that all, c...?"

Judge Adeane told Grant that his outburst was "simply arrogant, angry, rude, disrespectful defiance of the court, and that will not be tolerated".