used variously to express mild surprise, boredom, disappointment, fatigue, etc., or used as a greeting
heigh-ho in American English
(ˈhaiˈhou, ˈhei-)
interjection
(an exclamation of surprise, exultation, melancholy, boredom, or weariness.)
Word origin
[1545–55]This word is first recorded in the period 1545–55. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: articulate, insurance, integral, offset, species