DCHP-1 Online

klahowya(h) clahowya(h), klahowa, etc. [< Chinook Jargon] Pacific Coast

• 1 n. (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. . . .

• 2 n. 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). . . .