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Context: a boy shouts 「ちはース」 after seeing that a fan club for a boxer has only female members. He is happy to discover this since he is the kind of guy that always tries to flirt with pretty girls.

I understand that this is an exclamation expressing surprise, but is it common? Does it have an exact meaning or it is only onomatopoeic?

Also, is it vulgar? Something like "holy shit", or is it more similar to "wow"? I am asking this because the character shouting it often speaks in a vulgar way.

Here you can see the original page. Thank you for your help!

Marco
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1 Answers1

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This is just "Hi".

Jisho.org also has an entry for this. Other variations include ちわっす, こんちゃっす, ちゃーっす, ちゃーす, ちっす and ちーす.

naruto
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  • Does this mean that the speaker is greeting someone, or does the Japanese usage of こんにちは extend its usage in the same way as the English 'hello'? That is, can it be used upon making a discovery, e.g. "Hello, that's an interesting thing I've just discovered". – user3856370 Mar 12 '19 at 07:38
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    @user3856370 He's not surprised, and this is not an exclamatory phrase at all. It's just plain "hello" said in a loud voice. Please forget "wow", "holy shit" or anything similar. – naruto Mar 12 '19 at 07:46
  • @naruto Maybe it'd be something like sup! – Ringil Mar 12 '19 at 17:41
  • Wonder if it's odd to switch from hiragana to katakana in midword like this, or if this just shows i don't read a lot of manga? – Nathan Hughes Mar 12 '19 at 18:12
  • @NathanHughes I think it's just that you don't read a lot of manga. :) They do that often. However, I don't think it is common outside manga. – Marco Mar 12 '19 at 20:08
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    @Ringil Oh, it's contracted "wassup"? Then it should be similar, but by using "ーす", he's also trying to be a little polite. – naruto Mar 13 '19 at 02:27
  • @NathanHughes This ス is essentially です. With that in mind, please read: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/64987/5010 – naruto Mar 13 '19 at 03:26