what is "achalay"?

Question

Can someone tell me what ¡achalay! means? It came from Muchacha Punk so I guess it is Argentinian. Maybe something like "at long last!" ... ?

Here´s the context:

!Achalay! -- no fuimos al dormitorio de su hermana.

Answer 1

Yes, It's from Argentina (from Salta).

Voz quechua con la que se expresa admiración o satisfacción con algo.

Quechua word that expresses the admiration or satisfaction with something.

• Thank you, that´s really interesting. Searching achalay and quechua gives some fascinating results. - kattya Jan 9, 2010

Answer 2

Well, according to the babylon dictionary, which is the only one I can find it in, it is an Andean word meaning "brrr, or shiver", and is used as an exclamation of joy.

Their German/Spanish dictionary translates it as "wunderschon", so I guess it must mean something like "great!"