Culture, scenery and ... accents? Hawaii now has something else to brag about

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Ever consider the island style way of speaking ‘sexy’?

You know, the dropped R’s in pidgin as in “Run 'em haaaahd” (run it hard), or the soft subtle way vowels are elongated in Hawaiian? (When pronounced correctly, that is.)

Well, according to this list by Big Seven Travel, Hawaii ranks among the sexiest of the states when it comes to accents.

Yes, apparently, Hawaii speaks with its own accent. And it’s considered ‘sexy.’

Hawaii is the only bilingual state in the U.S., recognizing both English and Olelo Hawaii as official languages.

In their list, Big Seven Travel says, “Hawaiian is a Polynesian language, so it’s slow vowels and elongated words that together sound so relaxing you’ll never want to stop listening. America’s only official bilingual state, native speakers mix Pidgin and English, so the “r”s are generally dropped.”

Pidgin — which came to be during plantation days — was born as a mix of broken phrases from languages spoken by plantation workers who needed to communicate, but came from all over the Pacific Rim.

As we know it today, pidgin encompasses Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese and many other languages, but let’s not bore you with an elongated lesson in linguistics.

Back to the list: Hawaii ranked number seven for ‘Sexiest Accents.’

Hawaii was placed in the top 10 based on a survey of 1.5 million people.

So which states ranked best and worst?

Texas took the number one spot for the “slow Texan drawl,” hard R’s and Howdy’s. Following in the runner-up and bronze medal spots: Boston and New York.

At the bottom of the list, ‘Minnesotan’ ranked 48, New Jersey was 49, and dead last: Long Islander.

So, the next time you hear, 'Eh brah, how you stay?" take a moment and appreciate it’s sexiness.

And, if you need an extended lesson in pidgin, take a few minutes and watch this video, Pidgin 101.

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