askchapo

Usually yeah?

I'm from Hawai'i where we have Hawaiian Pidgin, as well as Pidgin English, essentially Pidgin-light, which is generally more common. Both are usually just called Pidgin.

Anyway, Pidgin is generally spoken by people whose ancestry goes back to the 19th century or earlier. Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan, Korean and Portuguese people generally know how to speak Pidgin English or full Pidgin depending on where they live.

Most white people do not speak Pidgin and it comes off real fuckin weird if they try.

There are two caveats.

Haoles are only like 20-25% of the population so way more of them are aware of these subtleties than mainland haoles are with AAVE.

Caveat one: There are some haoles, usually 3rd 4th 5th 6th generation, that speak full on Pidgin, and speak English with a local accent. You can always tell when it's natural.

Caveat two: Everyone, and even most haoles, use certain Pidgin words and phrases, sometimes without knowing it. This is totally normal and not weird, and can signify someone as not-a-tourist.

I fucking thought these two were normal American slang or shorthand until people looked at me weird on the mainland:

• You like? (Do you want this/want some)
• I like? (Can I have that/have some)

Also very common:

• I'm going school (I'm attending school)
• go beach? (Let's go to the beach)
• shoots (bye)
• howzit/hazit (how's it)
• talk story (chatting)
• no can (I can't, they can't, it can't)
• if can can if no can no can (poetic, also a bit more local coded)
• stink eye (a glare)
• B-52/747 (big motherfucker flying cockroach)
• [verb] 'em
• removing "ly" from adverbs
• da kine (overuse of this one is not for haoles)
• shishi (pee)
• side (as in let's go Hilo side, let's go Kona side)
• uncle/auntie (sign of respect for anyone a generation or more older, but especially older Hawaiian or local people)

And haoles say a lot of Hawaiian words like:

• hapa (mixed race person, not only mixed Asian like people think on the mainland)
• pau, all pau, pau hana (done, all done, done with work)
• puka, (hole) especially puka shell
• kapu (more when used to refer to a trespass area)
• 'ohana (more when used to refer to a studio apartment style room within/attached to a house)
• okole (butt)
• akamai (smart)
• pakalolo (weed)
• pu'u (hill especially cinder cone)
• mauka/makai (mountain direction, ocean direction) you literally have to say these, not optional
• keiki (1 year old, baby, or small child)

That's all normal stuff to say, some are easier to sound off-key than others.

And the key is not to use some weird fucking accent! Just say em normal.

But you really have to be born into a heavily Pidgin speaking area to be a white person like "breh yo girl say you bettah go home bumbai she goeen lick you, we stay goeen eensai da kine foa wan beer, but! Shootz den." also helps a bit if you can pass for Portuguese