klahowya(h)

[< Chinook Jargon]

Pacific Coast

DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Spelling variants:
clahowya(h), klahowa, etc.

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1n.

(a salutation) Greetings! How are you?

1849

[How are you?--Thla choea.]

1862

I was greeted by . . . the principal personages with "clah-how-yah," which is the complimentary term used in the trading jargon.

1908

O'er the bay float shrill "cla-how-yas"/Through the dusk. . . .

1957

"Kla-how-ya!" he called cheerily, raising one hand in a salutation of friendship.

1964

Klahowya! My tribe with wisdom of forefathers, has observed lack of unity in native land. . . .

2n.

See quote.

1956

Old Squaw [is also called] kla-how-ya (Siwash Indian name adopted by whites in British Columbia; it is in imitation of the bird's notes). . . .