Da kine

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"Da kine" is a word in Hawaiian Pidgin that usually functions grammatically as a placeholder name (compare to English "whatsit"), but can also take the role of a verb, adjective, or adverb. Unlike other placeholder names in English, however, which usually refer specifically to a device (e.g. "gizmo" or "widget"), person (e.g. "so-and-so"), or place (e.g. "Anytown, USA"), "da kine" is general in usage and could refer to anything from a person to an abstract concept. It can be used to refer to something nonspecific, or given enough context (especially when used in conversation between native speakers of the dialect, see Pragmatics) to something very specific. As such, it appears to be unique among English dialects, at least in its centrality to everyday speech.

"Da kine" is probably the most identifying characteristic of spoken Pidgin. The humorous illustrated dictionary Pidgin to Da Max defines "da kine" as:

DA KINE (da KINE) Da kine is the keystone of pidgin. You can use it anywhere, anytime, anyhow. Very convenient. What would we do without DA KINE? "Ey, I no can da kine if you no like da kine, too!"

Trever Cralle's Surfin'Ary lists da kine as "the word you use when you don't use the word."

It also happens to be one of the most frustratingly difficult aspects of Pidgin for non-native speakers to understand. While reports that native speakers of Pidgin can be unforgiving of amateurs may exaggerate, some Hawaiians get a certain pleasure from using the word to non-native speakers.

According to the article Going Native on Oahu by Steve Barth, "[da kine] can mean virtually anything, the salad dressing, a phone number, your uncle Lewellyn. It doesn't strictly even have to be a thing. It doesn't matter how obscure the reference either. A kamaaina will always intuitively know what you mean." While such a claim is often made, in practice it should be remembered that "da kine" is used as shorthand when it is likely the listener will understand what is meant from context (or a combination of context and body language), so that this type of claim is not necessarily as amazing as it might first seem.

"Da kine" may be related to the word "kine", which is used variously as an intensifier, short for "kind of" in the sense of "type of", and for many other purposes (perhaps almost as much variety as "da kine"). However, it may not be entirely accurate to analyze it as a phrase consisting of "da" (the Pidgin definite article) and "kine", as "kine" by itself does not have the same meaning. One possible analysis is that "da" in "da kine" is a clitic, as phrases such as "da odda (other) kine" are commonly used.

"Da kine" appears in the title of the book Da Kine Dictionary. It is also the title of a song by Darrell Labrado about the word and its usage.

While "Da kine" appears in many contexts and refers to almost anything, it is also frequently associated with something good or genuine - "the best" according to some (as in the name of Duane Chapman's Dog the Bounty Hunter business, Da Kine Bail Bonds). For example, the word has been picked up as a company name and name of a web site, and was for a while associated with good marijuana.