Parting phrase

Parting phrases are elements of parting traditions, phrases used to acknowledge the parting of individuals or groups of people from each other.

Parting phrases are specific to culture and situation, varying between persons based on social status and personal relationship.

Examples

In English, there are formal and informal ways of saying goodbye. In day-to-day speech, people also sometimes use foreign parting phrases like ciao and arrivederci (Italian), au revoir and bon voyage (French), auf wiedersehen and tschüss (German), adiós, hasta la vista, hasta luego, and hasta mañana (Spanish), shalom (Hebrew), sayōnara (Japanese), and aloha (Hawaiian).

Religious and traditional parting phrases

Some phrases, such as "Live long and prosper," "May the Force be with you," and "I'll be back" are taken from films. Furthermore, all holiday greetings (such as "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Easter") can act as parting phrases.

Written

Most of spoken phrases may also be used in written communication, but there are some specialized ones.

Various cultures historically have elaborate epistolary traditions, in particular how to end a letter, which is seen as a parting with the invisible partner in dialogue.

In English, letters are ended with the sender's name (for example, John Doe). Thus, epistolary parting phrases have the following form:

More elaborate endings are possible.

See also

References