How to Understand Hawaiian Pidgin

Know that articles and verbs gets replaced with slang. Da replaces "The", Fo' replaces "To", and Wen replaces "When". Other verbs can be replaced, for example, "Braddah, you lik' go beach?" is pidgin for "You want to go to the beach?"^[1]

Understand the common adjectives and names towards people. Lolo means idiot and Kolohe means troublemaker. In the islands, there is an "ohana" (family) slang towards others. Auntie and Uncle are used towards females and males that are older than you in a respectable way, for example your friend's parents, a supermarket cashier, or a bus driver. Brah or Braddah are used for laid-back conversations or to get someone's attention.^[2]

Don't forget the differences between similar words. Hapai means pregnant while Hapa means half. Talk story means chatting or casual conversation and Talk stink means talking bad about someone else.

Learn some Hawaiian phrases that are brought into Pidgin. Puka means hole, usually found in shirts or other items. Hana Hoe means "one more time" and mostly said at concerts or gigs when the crowd wants to hear one more song. Another is "Kannakattack", which means "eat till you sleep".^[3]

"Th" is not typically pronounced like "th" as in "the" in standard English when at the start of a word. The "h" is silent meaning "throw" is pronounced "trow" and "three" is pronounced "tree". If the "th" is in the middle of the word, it is pronounced as a "d" (but usually spelled as "dd". "Rather" is pronounced "raddah", "gather" is "gaddah", "father" is "faddah".^[4]