high waters

"High waters" is a widely used slang term in Hawaii, borrowed from mainland English but heavily integrated into local Pidgin to tease someone wearing pants that are noticeably too short. It is most commonly used among friends, family, and classmates in a joking, teasing manner. The phrase paints a humorous picture of someone wearing pants hemmed so high above the ankle that they look prepared to wade through deep water without getting their cuffs wet.

While the term is generally lighthearted, it is almost always used to poke fun at someone's fashion choices, making it inappropriate for formal or professional settings unless the workplace has a very casual, joking dynamic. In Hawaii's warm climate, wearing actual shorts is the norm, so when someone wears poorly fitted long pants that ride up like "high waters," it immediately draws comedic attention and classic local roasting.

The "Moloka'i Cousins" group chat was going off like a string of firecrackers before 8:00 AM. It started when Jonah sent a blurry, zoomed-in photo from the parking lot outside Misaki's in Kaunakakai. The subject was their older cousin Kelii, loading a bag of rice into his Tacoma while wearing the most aggressively hemmed jeans anyone had ever seen.

"Brah, look at this guy," Jonah texted. "Expecting a flood on the west side today or what?" Immediately, the typing bubbles from five different cousins popped up. "Ho, look at the high waters!" Leilani fired back, followed by a row of skull emojis. "Ankles catching a mean breeze," added Keawe. "He look like he outgrew his middle school uniform."

Kelii, who was unfortunately also in the chat, finally chimed in. "Shut up you guys, is called fashion. Plus stay hot today." The chat mercilessly ignored his defense. "Fashion? You wearing high waters with white socks and slippahs," Jonah replied. "You look like you going clam digging at Ali'i Fishpond."