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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.

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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.

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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, 2019 at 7:38
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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, 2019 at 7:46
  • @naruto Maybe it'd be something like sup!
    – Ringil
    Mar 12, 2019 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, 2019 at 18:12
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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, 2019 at 2:27

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