Phrase expressing exhilaration.
Of unknown origin, but having been popularized (as Kowa-Bunga) by Chief Thunderthud on the American children'
s show Howdy Doody in the late 1940s or
early 1950s, and became associated with American surfing culture. By the
early 1980s, it was used as the catch-phrase of Cookie
Monster on the American television show Sesame Street, and gained popularity with a broader audience after its use in the American cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (For further treatment, see here.)