“Try wait I gotta go Shishi” — “Please wait. I need to go pee.”
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
47605
United States
Honolulu
two hands holding up Hawaiian "ola i ka wai" and in the hands is written "water is life" (left) and "let us live" (right)
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
47807
United States
Honolulu
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Multilingual Hawaiʻi
51317
United States
Honolulu
Mauna Loa macadamia nuts had a promotional table at the finish line for the 2022 Hapalua half marathon. This sign uses pidgin to congratulate locals on finishing the race while also promoting their products
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
51318
United States
Honolulu
Sign at the end of the 2022 hapalua half marathon instructing runners to “please Kokua” so that all runners can get a treat at the end. It thanks participants with mahalo.
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
51319
United States
Kapaʻa
Graffiti in chalk behind a map of the ke ala hele makalae path in Kapaʻa. The graffiti says “everythin mayjah”
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
51320
United States
Kapaʻa
This graffiti says “fuck da system” as some sort of transgressive political message
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
51321
United States
Kapaʻa
Lots of graffiti on the back of this informational sign in English, pidgin, and Hawaiian.
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
51322
United States
Kapaʻa
The sticker on this car parked in the side of the road says “can,” which is most likely from the phrase “if can, can; if no can, no can”. It is not referring to a soda can, but to possibility.
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
59564
United States
Honolulu
This is the exit sign for a popular local store that sells local shirts with Pidgin on it. The style of the store is a beach or surfer theme but any local can shop there. Because it’s in Ala Moana Shopping Center, it’s also a site for tourists.
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
59565
United States
Pearl City
Here we see Pidgin being user as the name of a variety of Poke. The Pidgin implies that this poke is very ono. They probably used Pidgin to emphasize the deliciousness of the poke.
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
59566
United States
Honolulu
Here we see Pidgin being used in a sign in a retail clothing store to educate probably tourists about where the beaches are and probably some locals who are not aware of where all the beaches are in Hawaii. This is accompanied by a drawing of a hula dancer which I’m not sure what the associated of hula and beaches are. The design is also drawn with a blackboard and chalk looking design to reinforce the education purpose of the sign.
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
59567
United States
Honolulu
This s
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
63613
United States
Kaneohe
This sticker, made by a local company, features the Pidgin phrase “Cheehoo” stylized as the Champion brand logo. Cheehoo is an exclamatory phrase used when something exciting is happening. I think that stylizing this local phrase as a trendy apparel company makes it more accessible for younger audiences.
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
63614
United States
Kaneohe
This is one of my favorite Pidgin phrases and it just means “No worries!”. The “beef curry” part doesn’t mean anything and is only used for the rhyme, but this sticker shows a more literal representation with beef curry as the background. I chose to put this sticker on my water bottle because if someone recognizes it, I know they’re local!
Multilingual Hawaiʻi
118144
kyp
United States
Halawa
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Multilingual Hawaiʻi
118145
kyp
United States
Aiea
Japanese Peace Bell
Located on Neal S. Blaisdell Park
Lingscape
