The term Cowabunga was originally used by the television character Chief Thunderthud on the Howdy Doody Show. The host of the show, “Buffalo Bob” Smith, said this about the term:

As far as I know, our Howdy Doody writer, Eddie Kean “made up” the word Kawabonga—which Chief Thunderthud used when things were bad. When he was happy he said another original word, Kawagoopa.