Howdy!

Howdy . . . I said this as a greeting to an associate from London and it got me thinking.

I love finding out about words and origins of such.  If I had to guess I would expect is a uniquely American word.

I would also venture to postulate that ‘howdy’ is a condensed version of ‘How do you do’.  

A little research shows that I’m right on the money.

Segue . . . ‘on the money’ is an archery term.   In the olden days during competitions a coin was set at the middle of the target and the archer whose arrow lands the closest to the coin would take the coin as the prize.

Anyhoo . . . howdy originates in the American south.  It is a contraction for ‘how do ye’ which is an earlier form of ‘how do you do’.  

Howdy used now interchangeably with ‘hello’  . . . as opposed to an inquiry as to one’s health.

So there ya have it!