howdy-do

1. An informal, colloquial greeting (a contraction of "how do you do?"). Primarily heard in US. Well hey, Bob, howdy-do? Been a long time since I've seen you around here!

2. An unfortunate, unpleasant, or awkward situation or circumstance; a troublesome or difficult state of affairs. (Often phrased as "a fine howdy-do.") Primarily heard in US. Well that's a fine howdy-do. I'm on the job for just two days and I find out that the company is going bankrupt!

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Zander	ZAN-dər	English (Modern)
Gwenneth	-	Welsh (Rare)
Peregrine	PER-ə-grin, PER-ə-green	English (Rare)
Othello	o-THEL-o (English)	Literature
Beata	be-AH-tah (Polish, German)	Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Late Roman
Fridtjof	FRIT-shof (Swedish), FRIT-yof (Swedish)	Swedish, Norwegian, Danish