h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

... say goodbye?

Most languages have a plethora of ways to say goodbye. They probably use all of the Spanish language ones, including 'adios'. There's no reason an atheist wouldn't say that. I say 'Thursday', but I don't worship Thor.

These expressions are just part of a language. They are part of our social history, but we don't all use them literally. You don't need to believe in the concept of eternal hellfire to say "Damn!" when you miss the bus.

Hasta la vista? Mañana?

But seriously, why wouldn't they use adiós? I don't know of any anglophone atheists (and I know some pretty right-on ones) who wouldn't use goodbye because it invokes god. Similarly when I'm speaking Urdu I greet folk with salaam aleikum/wa'aleikum salaam (God's peace be upon you), tell folk I'm fine by saying Allah ki shukr (Allah protects me) and when I bid someone farewell I say khuda hafiz (god protect you). I don't believe there's a god actually doing any of those things, it's just a saying.

We very rarely actually use the terms for 'farewell' that phrase books say we do, anyway. It's usually something much more idiomatic.

"See ya later".
"All right then! *wave*"
"Take it easy!"
"Look after yourself!"

Some interesting alternatives .

Spanish adios sounds like "a dios!" which seems to translate as "To God!"

The French version is adieu ... and again "a dieu!" seems to translate as "To God!" However my French is better than my Spanish so I know about the alternatives; au revoir, a bientot ...

As far as I am aware the good in goodbye cannot be ascribed to "god" so has no religious connotation. In fact I can't immediately think of any English equivalent to the "To God" farewell apart from the borrowing of the French adieu.

In fact goodbye is a contraction of God Be With You.

>>
Word Origin & History
good-bye
1591, from godbwye (1573), itself a contraction of God be with ye,
infl. by good day, good evening, etc.
<<


~jwf~

Mind you I prefer the British saying 'Cheerio'.
But one hears it so seldom anymore over here
that I keep forgetting to use it, instead
saying 'See ya' in speech and in text.

Godbewithye
~jwf~

Adeus, adios, adieu all mean 'Go with God' rather than 'to God'- the closest in English is probably 'Godspeed' which is fairly archaic.

But goodbye seemingly did come from a contraction of 'God be with you' http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=good-bye so s'all the same really.

Ciao

Oooh, with squiggles.

Mo probs!
Here's another link with some interesting
variations in the 3rd to 5th paragraphs.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4791381_say-goodbye-spanish.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask


~jwf~

Mo=No.

>> Word Origin & History
good-bye
1591, from godbwye (1573), itself a contraction of God be with ye,
infl. by good day, good evening, etc.
<<

Fascinating, so maybe He is omnipresent

I suppose even atheism could be read as "to theism" or "Go with theism" - the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Just lost another post.

Hasta luego!

Doesn't 'Godspeed' mean it's raining?

I've come across a couple of unusual ways in my travels for instance in Guernsey they say "Cheery" which i believe is a shortened form of Cheerio. out here in the Windies they just say "Later" on parting

<> Icy

- shouldn't it mean, "It's been raining"

Of course, a true pedant wouldn't have forgotten the question mark.

Simdois, Hasta luego or in the Andes - a-Pachamama

Ahoy there!

Odd that eHow doesn't mention 'Hasta luego', as it's probably *the* most common of the lot (at least in Spain).

Hello is quite interesting, too: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hello