mainland, during which employees are allowed to dress more casually or in aloha wear, in anticipation of the weekend.Īloha shirt – Also known as a “Hawaiian shirt” on the U.S. A Big List of Hawaiian Pidgin Slang Words and Phrases A B B D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z AĪina (EYE-nah) – Land, especially homeland.Īkamai (AH-kah-MY) – Smart, clever, wise, witty, skilled.Īli’i (ah-LEE-ee) – In Native Hawaiian history, someone of inherited nobility (the highest social class).Īloha Fridays – Similar to “casual Fridays” on the U.S. ‘Ohana (OH-hah-nah) – ‘Ohana means family and like most cultures plays a major role in Hawaiian life so you’ll likely hear this one! Kapu (KAH-poo) – Forbidden, taboo, keep out. Kahuna (kah-HOO-nah) – A priest or expert.
Howzit – A greeting, equivalent to “How are you?” or “How is it going?” Someone of mixed racial or ethnic heritage, especially involving Asian or Pacific Islander heritage. Hapa (HAH-pah) – Part, half (for example, hapa haole). Modern meaning: Caucasian (not deragatory). Haole (HOW-leh) – Traditional meaning: Foreigner. A casual, friendly way of addressing a male: Eh, brah - you wanna go surf?ĭa kine – A catch-all phrase that is often used to fill in a mental blank when talking, similar to “whatchamacallit”: Let’s go to da kine place we grind at last week. You’ll here these words daily and will understand a lot more if you know these words!Īloha – Absolutely the most popular Hawaiian word that any foreigner is bound to have heard before! It means both hello AND goodbye.īrah – Short for braddah or bruddah (“brother”). This is a short list of those words that are a MUST HAVE if you are planning to visit or move to Hawaii. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better resource than by going to the source! Find a Hawaiian person to help you learn. Type into Youtube “Hawaiian Pidgin” and you’ll get a ton of results that can help you learn. There are many great youtube channels that focus on speaking Hawaiian Pidgin. WikiHow has a short 6 steps on how best to understand Hawaiian Pidgin Slang. Highly entertaining book with illustrations and english translations! Great for beginners! WikiHow Immersion is a great way to learn quickly! Pidgin To Da Max (Recommended) There are plenty of places available online to learn Pidgin slang phrases. Other Places to Learn Hawaiian Pidgin Slang Knowing the about pronunciations of Hawaiian Vowels will prepare you for the words you’ll encounter when on the islands. The kahakō lengthens and adds stress to the vowel that has the line over it, such as “pūpū” (poooo-poooo) which means shell in Hawaiian. The single quote in ‘okina denotes a glottal stop which is similar to the sound of “oh-oh” in english. There are some characters in Hawaiian that might be unfamiliar, specifically the ‘okina and that kahakō.
There are some 600,000 or so people who speak Hawaiian pidgin slang phrases today and roughly 400,000 use it as a second language. But it can be helpful - and fun, frankly! - to be familiar with these words and expressions when you encounter them. Pidgin words and phrases are also sometimes used in local advertisements.Īs a newcomer to Hawaii, you won’t be expected to speak Pidgin to locals (in fact, any attempt to do so will probably be met with strange looks or laughter!). Today, you can hear Pidgin being spoken among some locals in informal situations. When the Okinawans, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, and Filipinos started immigrating to Hawaii around 1900, bits of their distinct languages were also thrown into the mix. To be able to communicate with each other and the English-speaking plantation owners, a common language developed that borrowed words, phrases, intonations, and grammatical structures from these 4 different languages. First came the Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese in the mid-1800s. Hawaiian Pidgin has evolved from the old plantation days when immigrants came from different countries to work in Hawaii’s sugar cane fields. A Big List of Hawaiian Pidgin Slang Words and Phrases.Most Popular Hawaiian Pidgin Slang Words.Other Places to Learn Hawaiian Pidgin Slang.Background to Hawaiian Pidgin Slang Phrases.
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