Shaka sign

File:gesture raised fist with thumb and pinky lifted.jpg

The shaka sign, sometimes known as "hang loose", is a gesture with friendly intent often associated with Hawaii and surf culture. It consists of extending the thumb and smallest finger while holding the three middle fingers curled, and gesturing in salutation while presenting the front or back of the hand; the wrist may be rotated back and forth for emphasis. The shaka sign is similar in shape to the letter Y in the American manual alphabet in American Sign Language or the sign for number six in the Chinese hand counting symbol. The shaka sign should not be confused with the sign of the horns, where the index and pinky fingers are extended and the thumb holds down the middle two fingers.

Origins

According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,{{cite web |last=Watanabe |first=June |title=Wherever it came from, shaka sign part of Hawaii|url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/03/31/news/kokualine.html| newspaper= Honolulu Star-Bulletin| access-date=13 January 2011| date=31 March 2002}} prevailing local lore credits the gesture to Hamana Kalili of Laie,{{cite web |title=Honoring the Founder of the Shaka Hamana Kalili |date=16 June 2017 |publisher=This Week Hawaii |url=http://www.thisweekhawaii.com/events/oahu/840/honoring-founder-shaka-hamana-kalili/}} who lost the three middle fingers of his right hand while working at the Kahuku Sugar Mill.{{r|Guard 2024}} Kalili was then shifted to guarding the sugar train, and his all-clear wave of thumb and pinkie is said to have evolved into the shaka as children imitated the gesture.{{cite web|title= The Shaka|url= http://www.polynesia.com/shop-online/the-shaka.html|publisher= Polynesian Cultural Center|access-date= 13 January 2011|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110622110256/http://www.polynesia.com/shop-online/the-shaka.html|archive-date= 22 June 2011}}{{cite web |title=The history of the famous surfing shaka sign |publisher=SurferToday |url=https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-history-of-the-famous-surfing-shaka-sign}}{{cite web |url=http://www.polynesia.com/HukilauMP1.html |title=Press Release: Polynesian Cultural Center's New Hukilau Marketplace Brings Back the Spirit of Old Laie |access-date=2017-08-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827173548/http://www.polynesia.com/HukilauMP1.html |archive-date=27 August 2017 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web |title=Everything You Wanted to Know About the History of the Shaka |date=15 June 2016 |author=Dylan Heyden |publisher=The Inertia |url=http://www.theinertia.com/surf/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-history-of-the-shaka/}}{{cite web |date=30 July 2015 |title=How Four Small-Town Oahu Natives Went on to Change the World |author=Joe Kukura |publisher=Polynesian Cultural Center |url=http://www.polynesia.com/blog/how-four-small-town-oahu-natives-went-on-to-change-the-world/}}

Another theory relates the origin of the shaka to the Spanish immigrants, who folded their middle fingers and took their thumbs to their lips as a friendly gesture to represent sharing a drink with the natives they met in Hawaii.{{cite news |date=25 September 2005 |title=Theorizing about birth of shaka |author=Bob Krauss |newspaper=The Honolulu Advertiser |url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Sep/25/ln/FP509250345.html}}{{Cite web|url=https://magazine.byu.edu/article/handy-way-rep-y/|title=World-Famous Shaka Started By Hawaiian Latter-day Saint}}{{cite web |title=The Origin of the "Shaka" Sign |url=http://www.k12.hi.us/~stevenso/shaka/shaka.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030222082433/http://www.k12.hi.us/~stevenso/shaka/shaka.htm |archive-date=22 February 2003}}{{cite web |author=Sean Reavis |title=The Shaka- History of the Hawaiian "Hang Loose" |date=18 March 2016 |publisher=Boarders |url=http://boardersmag.com/articles/the-shaka-history-of-the-hawaiian-hang-loose |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325130210/http://boardersmag.com/articles/the-shaka-history-of-the-hawaiian-hang-loose |archive-date=25 March 2016}}{{cite web |author=Céline Nguyen |title=SURFIN' USA |publisher=Surf Library |url=http://surflibrary.org/SurfingUSA.html |at=See Appendix.}}

The late Lippy Espinda, a used car salesman and Oahu-based entertainer, has also been named as a possible creator of the shaka.{{cite magazine |url= http://www.honolulumagazine.com/core/pagetools.php?pageid=6960&url=%2FHonolulu-Magazine%2FNovember-2009%2FThe-Funniest-People-in-Hawaii%2F&mode=print |magazine= Honolulu Magazine |title= The Funniest People in Hawaii |access-date=26 December 2014}}{{Cite web |url= http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Sep/25/ln/FP509250345.html |work= The Honolulu Advertiser |title= Theorizing about birth of shaka |access-date=December 26, 2014}} Espinda, who frequently appeared as an extra in Hawaii Five-O as well as The Brady Bunch episodes shot in Hawaii, used the term and the sign during his television ads in the '60s. Though the claim that he is the originator of the shaka sign is debatable, he is credited with increasing its popularity and that of Hawaiian Pidgin as well.

The word shaka is also used as an interjection expressing approval, which may predate its use for the shaka sign. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the origin of the word is uncertain, but it may come from Japanese, where it is a byname for the Buddha.{{cite web |author=Martin |first=Katherine Connor |date=December 2016 |title=Release notes: Bama and shaka: how two local words went global |url=https://public.oed.com/blog/december-2016-update-release-notes-bama-and-shaka-how-two-local-words-went-global/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624185113/https://public.oed.com/blog/december-2016-update-release-notes-bama-and-shaka-how-two-local-words-went-global/ |archive-date=24 June 2018 |access-date=8 February 2021 |website=oed.com |publisher=}}

Meaning and use

File:Aloha vote.jpg used in Brian Schatz's 2014 Hawaii senatorial campaign|250x250px]]

Residents of Hawaii use the shaka to convey the "Aloha Spirit", a concept of friendship, understanding, compassion, and solidarity among the various ethnic cultures that reside in Hawaii, lacking a direct semantic to literal translation. Drivers will often use it on the road to communicate distant greetings along with gratitude.{{Cn|date=August 2023}} A bill making it the state's official gesture passed the legislature in 2024.{{Cite news |issn=1756-3224 |oclc=60623878 |language=en-GB |newspaper=The Guardian |department=Hawaii |access-date=2024-05-09 |date=2024-05-09 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/09/shaka-hawaii-official-hand-gesture |title=Talk to the hand: Hawaii makes shaka state's official gesture |first=Maya |last=Yang}}

File:Shaka Santa with Tutu Mele and penguins (2854687362).jpg and Tutu Mele by Honolulu Hale|250x250px]]

In the Honolulu public transport system (TheBus and Skyline), HOLO card readers display the shaka sign (along with a ukulele tone) when a card is tapped.{{cite web |url=https://kealakai.byuh.edu/breaking-down-how-to-use-thebus-new-holo-card-as-it-transitions-away-from-paper-passes |title=Breaking down how to use TheBus’ new HOLO card as it transitions away from paper passes |website=Ke Alaka'i |author=Stephenson, Anna |date=14 June 2021 |accessdate=21 July 2024 }}

In Hawaii, the shaka sign is known as "hang loose" and is popular in surfer culture.{{r|Guard 2024}}

Australian men's mental health charity The Shaka Project uses the shaka sign in its merchandise and logo.{{Cite web |title=The Shaka Project |url=https://theshakaproject.com/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=the shaka project. |language=en}}

There are several emoticon representations of the shaka sign, including \,,,/, \m/, and \,,,_. The earliest known use of the first two, with three commas or a lower case "m" corresponding to a hand's three middle fingers, is from 2006.{{cite web |url= http://www.pleiade.org/col_geal/aux_armes-mottoes.html#shaka-sign |title=Aux armes · mottoes: clarere audere gaudere & ζητεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν | last=Geal | first=Alan |publisher=Pleiade.org |date=2006-10-01 |access-date= 2016-07-02| quote= an innocently hedonistic call of American West Coast youth in the 1960s, Surf's up! : \,,,/ or \m/ Hang loose!}} The last, similar to the first except that it represents the thumb extended horizontally (as if perpendicular to the wrist) is reported, together with the first form, from Brigham Young University in 2016.

Similar gestures

=Chinese number gestures=

File:Chinesische.Zahl.Sechs.jpg

The sign has some similarities to the Chinese number gesture for "six".

=Beverages=

The sign can also be used to indicate the imbibing of a bottled drink, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic, as attested to below, by placing the thumb to the mouth and motioning the little finger upward as if tipping up a bottle's bottom end. A similar meaning can be achieved by pressing the thumb up against the tip of the nose with the little finger raised upwards parallel to the bridge of the nose. It is referred to as "schooies" in Australia (Australian slang for a schooner){{cite web |title=Schooie |url= http://www.slang-dictionary.org/Schooie |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171010155918/http://www.slang-dictionary.org/Schooie |url-status= usurped |archive-date= 10 October 2017 |publisher= Slang Dictionary |access-date=25 July 2016 | quote= Australian Slang: schooner of beer }}{{cite web |title= Definition of Schooie |url= http://dictionary.babylon-software.com/schooie/ |publisher= Babylon |access-date=25 July 2016 | quote= Australian Slang: schooner of beer}}

=Telecommunications=

File:Callme.jpg

With the thumb held near the ear and the little finger pointed at the mouth, the gesture is commonly understood to mimic the handset of a traditional landline telephone, and depending on context can be understood to stand for "call me", "I'll call you", or "let's talk on the phone".

The Unicode 9.0 emoji 🤙 "Call me hand"{{cite web|title=U+1F919: CALL ME HAND|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1F900.pdf |publisher=unicode.org}} can be interpreted as the shaka sign.

=New Zealand=

In New Zealand, the shaka sign is a gang salute for the Mongrel Mob, but is not commonly used for this purpose.{{cite encyclopedia| url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/28248/patch-colours-and-salute | first1= Greg | last1=Newbold| first2=Rāwiri| last2=Taonui| title=Gangs – Māori gangs and Pacific youth gangs| encyclopedia=Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand| date= 2012-11-12}} It can also serve as a greeting, meaning "Chur", which is a friendly gesture between friends, similar to in Hawaii where it is used in the same context.

=Austrian Leiwand=

A similar gesture was common among criminals in Vienna in 1935, accompanying the word of approval or appreciation "Leiwand".{{cite journal |title=Ein Beitrag zur Sprache des Wiener Verbrechertums |journal=Öffentliche Sicherheit |date=1935 |volume=15 |issue=8 |page=32 |url=https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?aid=ofs&datum=1935&page=308&size=45}}

Usage examples

Since 2015, fans of Brigham Young University (which has a satellite campus in Hawai'i and is also known colloquially as "the Y") have started using the gesture, in deference to newly hired Kalani Sitake, BYU's Polynesian head football coach, and because of its similarity with the letter Y in the American manual alphabet in American Sign Language. It is also used as a nod of respect to Hamana Kalili, a native Hawaiian Latter-day Saint who, according to locals, is the founder of the popular sign.{{Cite magazine|url= https://magazine.byu.edu/article/handy-way-rep-y/ |title=World-Famous Shaka Started by Hawaiian Latter-day Saint |access-date= 2016-08-10 |first= Michael R. | last= Walker | date= Summer 2016 |magazine= BYU Magazine }}

In 2024, Filipino P-pop girl group BINI became associated with the gesture when group member Sheena used it with the distinctive phrase, "Eyyy ka muna, eyyy".{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btGPPiqqkN0 |title=‘Eyyy ka muna’ trend pinauso ni BINI Sheena {{!}} Patrol ng Pilipino |date=2024-07-31 |last=ABS-CBN News |access-date=2024-11-24 |via=YouTube}}