Offensive terms to Hawaii people

[NoCal Boy]

I try to be sensitive to the fact that despite having visited Hawaii regularly all my life, first with my kama'aina family and now with my Waipahu-born wife, I'm still no local boy. (I'm NoCal Boy, get it??? OK never mind.) I like to think that I've got a pretty "local" perspective (for a "Chinese haole", as my wife so endearingly refers to me) but I certainly make mistakes.

I know that you don't call Hawaii residents Hawaiians (unless they are, of course) like we call California residents Californians. I know "haole" isn't always a harmless word, despite how some members of my family like to throw it around without discretion. But I need to check in with all of you on one word right now:

Mainland.

I know some Hawaii people do not like this term used, instead preferring "continental United States" or the like. But I know for a fact from my family, my wife's and the many kamaaina in my life that "mainland" is used by Hawaii people every day with no offense taken that the term is in some way belittling to Hawaii. Is it a matter of whether the person using the term is from Hawaii or not?

I was composing another post earlier and thought twice about its use. I just want to know if I can feel confident using the term in this community without offending anyone. It's really a laziness issue more than anything: I'm not opposed to using "continental United States" but it's so unwieldy and longer to type!

[Karen]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

Wow, serious? You know locals that use "continental US" instead of "mainland?" I'm in my 15th. year living here, am native American, not native Hawaiian but then, as you alluded to many people born and raised here aren't called "native Hawaiian." Anyway, I have been totally comfortable with the term "mainland" and like you, am rushed and won't bother saying "continental US" cuz people here haven't been saying it to me.

I would encourage you to call it anything you like. something like this, a mere term, in my opinion is not something you just give a tinker's cuss what other people like...I mean how on earth could someone "get offended" over the term mainland??

Like mama used to say, if they did...get offended in, well, they have the same skin to get glad in, again.

[NoCal Boy]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

To turn it around, recently a UH classmate of my wife's came for a visit. While relating his day over dinner he made an innocent reference to a "Chicano" man he'd seen. I almost spit out my lasagna. I had no idea that it's not unusual for Hawaii people to refer to those we commonly call "Latino" here that way. I don't know if Latinos today take offense to the term, but it's certainly not heard much around these parts anymore.

Brought to mind an old SNL (circa late 70's) sketch involving a Puerto Rican gang. Whenever anyone was asked why they did something, he would reply:

"Cuz I'm a Chicano!
And to be a Chicano means to ride up and down the boulevard
In big cars, low to the ground!!!"

That's all I remember after all these years and I still chuckle over it.

[tutusue]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

You'll see some HTers refer to CONUS instead of mainland. CONUS...get it?! It's certainly shorter than "continental United States". I always say "mainland", more out of habit than anything else. I'm not offended by either term however I'm originally from the main...err...conus.

[cyleet99]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

Funny, I was just thinking about this today; I caught myself saying "the States" instead of saying mainland. When I used "states" before, I had people look at me funny and say, yeah, like we are not in the states?? So I felt like mainland was the proper word to use.

I'm just going back to saying South Carolina from now on.

[kani-lehua]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

people get offended?! huh? mainland is what i use.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

Saying that America is the "Mainland" implies that we're an island chain "just off the coast" of the Main Land. The Caribbean islands are "just off the coast" of America. England is "just off the coast" of Europe. Japan is "just off the coast" of Asia.

We're not just off the coast, we're in the middle of the biggest ocean on the planet, at least 2500 miles away from anywhere else.

That's why some people -- like me -- prefer not to use the term "mainland" to refer to America.

[cyleet99]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

I agree that Hawaii is not "just off the coast," but Hawaii is one of the United States of America, no matter how far away it is.

So what would be best so as not to offend?

[cyleet99]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

I'm likin' CONUS....

[sansei]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

hi this is sansei and i've lived here since we've moved here from the big island in 1968 and i've lived here in honolulu since and i went from elementary school to high school and i was always considered a japanese and not an american of Japanese extraction so im considered myself an islander not a hawaiian so i thought to share this true story with everyone.i hope im not offending anyone by this posting,if i am,im truly and humbly sorry.:O(

Well thank's for your time

[MyopicJoe]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

people get offended?! huh?

Such a concern is surprising to us locals, but we've had the advantage of growing up immersed with the culture. Without effort we know what's taboo and what's no big deal.

My family's Asian. My wife's haole. She's smarter than me. She's more socially skilled. But in front of my parents she'll say something well meaning, but word it in such a way that I cringe and have to hurry up to cover for her. I may be of the lesser sex, but I trump her when it comes to Asian etiquette.

Of course there will be people who are offended by the word "mainland", but I think in most cases it's annoyance rather than offense being taken.


On a side note:

My wife calls soda...pop. She used to get creeped out when kids called her Aunty. She refers to Uncle Ben's as...rice. She used to pour milk in her rice. Where she's from, their milk comes in plastic bags.

(I'm NoCal Boy, get it??? OK never mind.)

haha, nice one

[NoCal Boy]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

Saying that America is the "Mainland" implies that we're an island chain "just off the coast" of the Main Land.

--snip--

That's why some people -- like me -- prefer not to use the term "mainland" to refer to America.

First, I've never heard that the use of "mainland" implied that Hawaii or any other chain is "just off the coast." Like Tutu, I suspect most people use it out of habit, like I do since I've heard it used all my life.

Second, I know I, and most people with any familiarity with the Islands wouldn't differentiate them from the rest of "America", as you have twice in your own post. Are you saying you prefer to use "America" over "mainland"?

So maybe it's not offense as much as annoyance, as Joe says. I'll apologize in advance for any future annoyances of this type, but please know that there is no malice intended. CONUS is a good alternative, but I suspect that I'll continue to use "mainland" out of habit until I'm convinced it's truly offensive to the majority.

[Keanu]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

I stopped using the term "mainland" a long time ago because quite frankly, the ConUS isn't my mainland. My sister lives in California and my in laws in New York but everything else is here in Hawaii. The fact that the other 49 states are an ocean apart isn't enough of a reason for me to call the ConUS the mainland. I'm not offended by the term but I know many who would be.

[scrivener]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

I get what the big deal is over "mainland," but whatever. It's the geographic MAIN part of the United States.

CONUS is bulky and stupid-sounding, no matter how you write it (conus, ConUS). Seriously, I have only seen it in print, but if I hear it spoken I am likely to choke. And is it CONUS or the CONUS? It is aesthetically displeasing to these ears. Talk about your offensive terms. That term offends every sensibility I have.

The continent or the continental United States work for me. I've used those in speech and in text, and in formal writing, I think continental United States is the only way to go.

[timkona]

Re: Offensive terms to Hawaii people

How about 'The lower 48'?

I love rice in a bowl, in a bath of milk, with a spoon of sugar.

Etiquette is something that I don't understand very well. Most especially when it clashes with sensibility or logic. I wish more people would spend their lives being less offended. Falls in line with the notion of political correctness, which is also silly.

It was easy for me to stumble verbally at a house I lived in when I first moved here 15 years ago. They were very Japanese, and laughably egocentric. It came to a head one day when I was taking a verbal beating, in a supposedly light-hearted way, about 'stupid haole', and brought up the subject of how smart the Japanese were in World War II. LOL

Needless to say, I moved soon after that.