poke

The word "poke" (pronounced POH-keh) originally means "to slice or cut crosswise into pieces" in the Hawaiian language. Globally, it is universally recognized as Hawaii's iconic dish of marinated, cubed raw fish. However, in local Pidgin slang, "poke" evolved into a crude, double-entendre verb for sexual intercourse.

This vulgar usage is mostly heard among younger locals, teenagers, or men joking around in highly informal settings, often phrased as the proposition "like poke?" It is highly inappropriate to use the slang definition in polite company, around elders, or in professional environments. While visitors and foodies strictly associate the word with the beloved ahi dish found at local supermarkets and restaurants, locals are well aware of its secondary, raunchy meaning, which occasionally leads to awkward misunderstandings when mainlanders mispronounce it or use it out of context.

Dust kicked up from the red dirt road in Pu'unene as the old Toyota pickup idled near the edge of the abandoned cane field. It was a quiet Friday afternoon, the kind where the heat makes everything move in slow motion. Manny, an older Portuguese guy who had worked the sugar mills before they shut down, leaned against the tailgate, striking a match for his cigarette. His younger coworker, a lolo kid named Bronson from Makawao, was scrolling through his phone, laughing at some text message.

"Eh, you see dis?" Bronson smirked, holding up the cracked screen. "Dis girl from Kahului finally texting me back. I tink she like poke."

Manny just shook his head, exhaling a long cloud of smoke into the humid air. He remembered when the only time you heard that word was when his uncles were slicing up fresh aku on the tailgate after a long day on the water, mixing it with Hawaiian salt and limu. Now, these young kids used it for everything else. "You better watch your mouth, boy," Manny grumbled, flicking his ash onto the red dirt. "You go talk to her faddah like dat, the only thing getting sliced up is gonna be you."