The Hawaiian Islands are unique in more ways than any one person could count – and that includes our language, vocabulary, and local diction. While most people from Hawaii don’t exclusively speak Hawaiian – except those who call Niihau home – there are a variety of Hawaiian phrases that are still frequently used today. From traditional Hawaiian sayings to modern slang and pidgin terms, these 17 coolest Hawaiian words used throughout the islands might make visitors swear Hawaii locals have their own language – which they technically do, of course.

1. Pau Hana
K Hardy/Flickr
Directly translating to "after work," pau hana is a celebration of the end of the work day. Basically: happy hour.
2. Howzit, braddah?
Flickr/Viv Lynch
This common Hawaiian greeting essentially translates to "What’s up, man?" and is easily a shortened version of "How is it going?"
3. Da Kine
Tara Severns/Flickr
Often seen as a placeholder word with no true definition, da kine is often used as the English equivalent to whatchamacallit, you know, for when you really don’t want to use real words.
4. Ono Grinds
Michelle Lee/Flickr
Quite literally, delicious food. As in, "Braddah, let’s go to Rainbow Drive In for some ono grinds."
5. Aloha aina
Gary Eyring/Flickr
Directly translated from Hawaiian, "love of the land," Aloha Aina is a term to describe the nurturing and care of our land.
6. E Komo Mai
Flickr/Loren Javier
Meaning welcome or enter, "E Komo Mai," is perhaps one of the most common phrases you’ll hear in Hawaii.
7. Hapa Haole
Daniel Ramirez/Flickr
If haole refers to someone of Caucasian descent, what does hapa haole mean? Someone of mixed race, of course.
8. Mahalo Nui Loa
Eliot Phillips/Flickr
This is what you say when you are extremely thankful. Quite literally, "thank you very much."

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9. Kala Mai Ia’u
Cory Sitko/Flickr
A polite term meaning "Excuse me."
10. Okole
Tom Simpson/Flickr
A not-so-polite slang term meaning "butt."
11. Pehea’oe?
Hinterhaus Productions / DigitalVision via Getty Images
You might not hear this greeting as often as "Howzit," but it essentially means the same thing: how are you?
12. Kama’aina
Marvin Chandra/Flickr
Kama’aina literally translates to "child of the land," but generally refers to Hawaii locals.
13. Pono
Joe Parks/Flickr
Like Da Kine, this is another catchall word. It is often defined as righteousness, but can also mean fair, moral, or proper.
14. Broke Da Mout
Paul Oka/Flickr
A term used when talking about ono grinds… Broke da mout is used when your food is so good it basically "broke your mouth." This is easily my favorite slang term used in Hawaii.
15. No Can
Albert de Bruijn/Flickr
Quite literally, "I can’t." Also potential definitions: it’s not possible, cannot.
16. Choke
Stem/Flickr
No, we’re not referring to the common verb in the English language. In Hawaii, choke is a slang term that means "a lot of something."
17. A Hui Hou
Waifer X/Flickr
A hui hou translates to "until we meet again," and sounds a lot nicer than simply saying goodbye.

If you’ve ever wondered how people talk in HI, now you know! How many of these Hawaiian sayings do you use on a regular basis? What about these 17 words only people from Hawaii understand?

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Hawaiian Phrases

Katie Lawrence | August 11, 2022

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Do Hawaiians have any strange habits?

There are plenty of strange Hawaii habits that locals will defend until their last breath. One of these is spelling out the name of our street whenever we're giving our address to someone over the phone (especially if said person doesn't live in Hawaii.) It doesn't mean we're trying to belittle them — after all, our street names are hard enough to pronounce, let alone spell — but we wouldn't change them for anything.

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