One word matches our times

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

It's local shorthand for so many judgments and pronouncements.

It's the one word that can seal your fate, affix a permanent label, assign your status within a group. It's the word you hold your breath for, the one that can make or break your day. It's the word your friends use to give you the most difficult feedback in a most delicate way:

"Match."

As in, "Vanessa, you match with that color" or "Tony, you match with that car."

Of course, "match" is an insult if the color is ugly or the car is junk.

Remember Andy Bumatai's routine about the high school girl asking her friend if her make-up looked OK.

"What, match?" became a catch-phrase like "Where's the beef?" and "I like da package."

"Match" meant more than match. "Match" meant a perfect fit, harmony, a concordance in values and style.

"Chelsea match for cheerleader, yeah?'

"Jason match Key Club."

"Mrs. Sakamoto match with that big gold Chrysler!"

"No match" meant many things, too: "You're not right for each other" as in, "Maybe you and Kaipo getting problems because deep down, you folks no match."

"No match" helped one avoid giving difficult details, like "That dress is too tight," "The neckline is too low," "The skirt makes you look like a kabocha pumpkin."

All you have to say when your friend walks out of the dressing room wearing that hideous excuse for a prom dress is, "Hmmm. That no match."

I hadn't heard the term in years, but recently, I've noticed a comeback.

At a craft fair over the weekend, I spot a woman trying on a necklace. She turns to her friend for guidance. "Match?" she asks. The friend nods. She buys the necklace.

I notice an older woman looking on as her daughter, who doesn't have kids, picks up another woman's baby. The older woman announces loudly, "You match with that baby." Everyone understands the big gets the hint.

A friend describes a couple that broke up. "I think they just realized that they don't match." It's understood that there won't be a reconciliation. They don't match.

What a perfect time for the resurgence of such a useful term. The beauty of "match" is it allows for an honest response without painful details. We need unadorned truthfulness right now, but we also need compassion.

One example: there are women right now walking around with those low-rise, boot-cut stretch jeans who need to be told that they don't match those pants, but they should really be spared the indignities of hearing WHY they don't match the pants.

Another application: I imagine a number of local politicians asking supporters, "What, I match as lieutenant governor?" A few could be spared a lot of bother if they were told they don't match.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com