I hear this all the time, placing 'no' in front of greetings/farewells (as in 'No Cześć' or 'No pa pa'). The person I ask doesn't know what it means or why they say it instead of just czesc or pa.
I'm guessing it's a filler as in the 'like' 'um' & 'uh' of English. Does anyone know?
Yes - it is used this way too. Beside the 'czesc' is common to say 'na razie' for goodbye - and all that between people who know rather well eachother.
"Cześć, pa!", also "Pa!" by itself, even "Pa, pa!" mean "Bye!", resp. "So long, 'bye!", and, like "Narazie!" (See you!), are ultra informal:-) Be careful not to substitute a jaunty "Cześć!"/"Witaj!"/"Witajcie!" for a more proper, 'boring' "Dzień dobry!", thinking that it makes you sound more casual, as for instance here in the States. It'll only sound somewhat rude, at best, slightly too forward.
Also, don't confuse "Cześć!" with "część" meaning "part" or "section". While the two are doubtless related, they no longer mean the same.
The original meaning of "cześć" is "honor", "reverence", "worship", e.g. "Uczestnicy uroczystości oddali cześć żołnierzom poległym podczas wojny", which is, then, probably related to the verb "czcić". From this, I think, came the very common usage of this word as an informal greeting - "hi", "hello". But I cannot see here any reason to relate it to the word "część". I also think that it may be related to another greeting, typical rather for scouts or soldiers (normally not used by normal people every day, unless deliberately) - "czołem".
