malama my boto

Malama My Boto: The Clash of Cultures The Joke Explained: This phrase is funny because of the word "Mālama." In Hawaiian culture, Mālama is a sacred concept meaning "to care for, protect, and preserve" (e.g., Mālama 'Āina - Care for the Land). The Satire: By taking a word reserved for the environment or family and applying it to one's own "junk," the speaker is being deliberately ridiculous. It mocks the high-minded seriousness of the "Mālama" campaigns by applying them to the lowest possible denominator.

The afternoon sun was baking the dust on the east end of Moloka'i, turning the air thick and heavy. Out on the front porch, Junior was leaning back in a rusted folding chair, trying to balance a half-empty can of POG on his forehead while bragging about how he was going to start a non-profit to save the feral chickens. He kept using big words he heard on the news, waving his hands around and knocking over an empty flower pot in the process.

His older cousin, sitting on the steps and slowly peeling a Hayden mango with a pocket knife, didn't even look up. "Eh, why you gotta ack like dat? You cannot even keep your own Tacoma running, and now you going save the birds? Malama my boto, braddah. Just pick up the pot before tutu comes outside."