![]() I was referred to as Wally da Pocho or Pordagee. ![]() So, imagine what a nightmare it was trying to pinpoint which John one was referring to, John da Pake or Buk-Buk Bob, etc. I’m not trying to insult anyone it is just the way it was and how we all talked back then.īecause of the patriotic times, most of my peers were given typical English/American names like John, James, Susan, Jane, etc. I need to explain to readers who are a little sensitive that I will be using slang terms when referring to different ethnic groups. This is important to keep in mind when reading my column. ![]() Most of us were born near the end of WWII and many of my classmates’ fathers served in the famous 100th/442nd combat units. I was born on Oahu but grew up in Hilo which was surrounded by many sugar plantations and most of my classmates and friends (with a few exceptions) were offspring of immigrant sugar workers. A few mispronounced English and Hawaiian words mixed with a spattering of words and terms from each ethnic group became a bonafide language which is still used today. To use a Chinese term, it was chop suey, all mix’em up, or Hawaiian - kapakahi. The common language of the plantations was English so in order for the laborers to communicate with the lunas (bosses), pidgin’ English was born. Workers came from Japan, Okinawa, China, the Philippines, Korea, Puerto Rico and the Portuguese islands of Madeira and the Azores. Regardless what you know it as, it is and has been the language of the locals ever since the Hawaiian Kingdom and the sugar barons started importing foreign laborers to work the fields and the processing mills from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. The following is Camp’s column introduction. ![]() Editor’s note: Starting today, West Hawaii Today will feature a biweekly column called “pidgin’ on da loose” by Wally “Kimo” Camp that will educate and entertain readers about Hawaii’s famous pidgin’ language. ![]()
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