"How now brown cow" is a phrase use in elocution teaching to demonstrate rounded vowel sounds. Each "ow" sound in the phrase represents an individual diphthong. The phrase does not have an explicit meaning per se but can be used as a light-hearted greeting. Although the exact origins of the phrase are unclear, it can be dated to at least 1942 in the United States. In February of that year the Maryland newspaper The Capital mentioned the phrase when discussing a famous thespian's voice: