bite

The slang term "bite" or "biting" is widely used among younger generations, high school students, and young adults in Hawaii to describe someone copying another person's style, slang, or choices. It originates from mainland hip-hop and street culture but has been fully adopted into the local Pidgin vocabulary.

It is almost always used as an accusation or a mild insult. You would use it when calling out a friend who suddenly buys the exact same surf shorts, lifts their truck the exact same way, or starts using a catchphrase you invented. It is generally kept among peers and friends in casual settings; using it with elders or in formal situations would be inappropriate and confusing.

The group chat was absolutely melting down by 7:00 AM. Kaipo had just posted a picture of his newly lifted Tacoma parked outside his house in Keaukaha, complete with the exact same matte black rims and offset tires that Wendy had put on her 4Runner last month. The notifications were firing off so fast it was draining batteries.

"Brah, you stay biting my style!" Wendy typed, dropping five skull emojis in a row. "I literally just showed you the invoice from Lex Brodie's two weeks ago!" Leilani immediately chimed in with a screen recording of Kaipo from last year swearing he would never buy those exact rims because they looked "too mainland."

Kaipo tried to defend himself, claiming he got a mean deal on Facebook Marketplace and it was just a coincidence. Nobody was having it. "Coincidence my eye," Leilani fired back. "Next week you gonna start wearing my same Makuku hoodie too? Stop biting and get your own personality."