Hawaii is not another country!! (Hawi: agriculture, move, best)

[Ford Beebe]

With the unique cultural mix and extensive differences from life on the mainland, it often feels like a different country. From a moving-to-Hawai'i perspective, it is like moving to another country in many ways.

[winkosmosis]

Culturally I think Hawaii is less similar to the mainland US than the (English speaking) Caribbean is. Aside from the mainland transplants that is.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by KauaiHiker

Jonah K, I think both missingpattaya and Wikipedia are correct: in American English, the word America (singular) has become a shortened form of United States of America. Traditionally, America was the name of both continents, so to distinguish that usage, American English had to find something else and chose the plural: the Americas. Personally, I don't think the political usage should overshadow the geographic meaning, but in reality it does--you can't deny the general usage. Other languages still use the geographic meaning, for example in French, the word Amérique (singular) still refers to both contients together, as a synomym for New World.

I agree. The use of italics instead of quotation marks for "America" and "the Americas" (along with some capitalization errors) by missingpattaya kinda threw me off.

[Lolipopbubbles]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

At one time or another, many of the chambers of commerce in Hawaiʻi had "municipal dollar coins" available for sale. Several of the local stores would accept them as payment and occasionally, some tourist would think that they had to convert their "foreign" U.S. dollars to one of the local "municipal dollars."

Here's how the Hilo and Kona "dollars" looked...

This alone is what gives the feeling of being in another Country. The money is nothing like what most Americans are used to seeing.

[PacificFlights]

Originally Posted by Lolipopbubbles

This alone is what gives the feeling of being in another Country. The money is nothing like what most Americans are used to seeing.

There are more places on the US manland still using that. Its not an official money its a marketing ploy. many areas ont he mainland sue it to keep people buying locally, so some use it as a revenue generator since they know a certain percentage will always end up as colectables and never be cashed in. The most basic and most common form of this from a private bsuiness side is casino chips.

and hawaii stopped that a long time ago, it was just as it was sold as being , a marketing campaign.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by PacificFlights

Its not an official money its a marketing ploy.

What?!? Wait!! You mean these bordello tokens I got in Nevada aren't really "Good for all night?"

[Koale]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

Actually, if you really think about it, and have spent a hell of a lot more than two months here, Hawaii IS another country. Sure, the paperwork may indicate otherwise, but, at the heart of it, Hawaii is a state in name only... The Bigger Island, however, and at least to a select few, may as well be another planet..

Aloha from the Territories

yeppers....lol...
K

[Jeepers Creepers]

Originally Posted by AuburnAL

While somewhat funny it is not difficult to understand what the woman was trying to ask.

Funny, and pretty accurate depiction of "words" and how they are used.
Coupled with a lack of awareness and sometimes obliviousness, confusion may result. Unfortunately, many popular styles of speaking, make a bad condition, worse. The constant use of "like" is an example. A person may say " I am, LIKE tired". Does that mean your condition is replicating actual tiredness ? Getting near tired? Fooling your senses ? Actually semi energetic, while manifesting exterior signs of fatigue, to fool those around you? Or, let's say " The (whatever applicable gender) person seemed attracted to me, but, I was LIKE, you KNOW, no way" ! Yes, I KNOW, and you did not, LIKE, need to say anything, as I am LIKE, psychic, and KNEW ALL that you were thinking. LIKE, You KNOW ?! If that is something you may hear a lot, you may think it is, AMAZING, as is "everything else" you hear about each day ! Isn't that, LIKE, "amazing"??! The IRS should consider using a small amount of refund money, and send taxpayers a thesaurus to research. Would that be , AMAZING, "like"??

[hotzcatz]

Did communication happen, though? Whichever words are used, as long as what is intended gets communicated, then it's all good! We have pidgin here which has a lot of the same sort of "non-standard" words and grammar yet communication happens.

I think a point to pidgin, though, is it is between specific people and not to people in general. Sort of a communication between folks in a group which can specifically exclude those not in the group. Which would go quite a ways towards making those not in the group (newcomers and tourists, mostly) feel like they are in a foreign country.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Did communication happen, though? Whichever words are used, as long as what is intended gets communicated, then it's all good! We have pidgin here which has a lot of the same sort of "non-standard" words and grammar yet communication happens.

I think a point to pidgin, though, is it is between specific people and not to people in general. Sort of a communication between folks in a group which can specifically exclude those not in the group. Which would go quite a ways towards making those not in the group (newcomers and tourists, mostly) feel like they are in a foreign country.

Pidgin in Hawaiʻi is an actual language with its own unique grammar and vocabulary. Linguists call it "Hawaiʻi Creole English" (HCE), since a large portion of its vocabulary comes from the English language; however, we often tailor it to suit a particular audience. We have the "light form" of Pidgin that linguists call the "acrolect," which is fairly close to standard English. We also have the "heavy form" of Pidgin that linguists call the "basilect," which is quite different from standard English. And, we have various "mesolects" that are between the "light forms" and "heavy forms" of Pidgin. Here's an example...

Pidgin is an actual language. -- Standard English
Pidgin stay one real language. -- "Hawaiʻi Creole English" (acrolect)
Da kine stay one real language -- "Hawaiʻi Creole English" (mesolect geared towards English speakers)
Da kine stay one real ʻōlelo. -- "Hawaiʻi Creole English" (mesolect geared towards Hawaiian speakers)
Da kine stay one real lengua. -- "Hawaiʻi Creole English" (mesolect geared towards Spanish speakers)
Da kine stay one honmono gengo. -- "Hawaiʻi Creole English" (mesolect geared towards Japanese speakers)
Da kine stay one honmono ʻōlelo. -- "Hawaiʻi Creole English" (basilect geared towards Japanese/Hawaiian speakers)

Many folks that speak Pidgin are "bilingual" and can switch between the various forms of Pidgin and standard English depending on the context.