The phrase came about during World War II and was coined by soldiers posted to the Pacific. It was said that the native languages sounded like little more than a series of noises and as such, were referred to as hubbub.
When a beautiful woman from the region would pass by and a soldier wanted to strike up some sort of interaction with her, he was at a disadvantage since he didn’t know how to speak her language.
Based on the word hubbub, soldiers began calling after beautiful women with the term “hubba hubba” to mean they were interested in getting the woman’s attention.
Overtime, the phrase has come to mean all women, not just women from the Pacific Rim.
Historically Speaking 