''Shibai'' (pronounced like: "she buy," with a on the second syllable) is a popular term commonly used in the state of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. Its general meaning refers to someone who is viewed as being "pretentious" or overtly "hypocritical."
The term is used mostly regarding social interactions. It can be heard being used in reference to the political system in general, or applied to political actions, policies, even individual politicians that are deemed untrustworthy, shady or disingenuous.
The word "shibai" entered into the common local vocabulary of Hawaii by way of introduction from
Japanese immigrants
The Japanese diaspora and its individual members, known as Nikkei (日系) or as Nikkeijin (日系人), comprise the Japanese emigrants from Japan (and their descendants) residing in a country outside Japan. Emigration from Japan was recorded a ...
. The original
Japanese language word, , literally translates as "a play" or "a dramatic performance," but is also used to describe a situation when someone is merely pretending or being insincere, as if performing a stage role: e.g., 芝居だよ！ - "...(s)he is only playacting!" or, "...it's all just an act!"
As a result of becoming popular in informal conversation, "shibai" can also be used even in what would be considered more "formal" venues, such as the local daily newspapers and even on local televised news broadcasts throughout Hawaii, especially during an election season.
Representative
Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) uses the term as follows in response to a policy proposal by the President: "It’s absolute shibai for President Trump to propose $7 Billion in cuts to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and $800 million in cuts from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, amongst other reductions, after Congress passed and the President signed the FY18 omnibus spending bill into law on March 23, 2018."
After reading the above descriptions, note that as a once much more common slang term used by a lot of second or third generation Japanese
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
in Hawaii, it is a term synonymous with BS. By saying someone or some thing is shibai means either they're "full of it" or "
bullshit". "Oh, that televised debate was so shibai." or "Can you believe that guy, everything he said was shibai."
On January 27, 2019, U.S. Senator
Mazie Hirono
Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Hawaii since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Hirono previously served as a member of the ...
(D-H) reinforces this usage in a fundraising email, in which she wrote the following: "Trump's presidency has been such shibai--that's the Hawaiian word for hypocritical nonsense--that I can hardly stand it."
[DNC.org / Senator Mazie Hirono email dated 01/27/19]
References
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What does ‘shibai’ mean? - Hawaii Answers* Kenkyusha's New School Japanese-English Dictionary, 1968, Kenkyusha Ltd.
Political terminology of the United States
Politics of Hawaii
Japanese words and phrases