Posts
So maybe I'll say hello with goodbye. This is eXtreme etymology, coming at you. Since it's my first venture into the world of Bloggy McBloggerson, though, don't expect razor wit just yet.
The word 'goodbye' in English comes from an Middle English phrase, namely "God be with ye[you]". While that has become truncated into the meaningless "goodbye" and even further to "bye," the word in other languages retains its original form. Spanish-- adios, literally "to God". French, for a final farewell-- adieu. Portuguese-- adeus. You can see where this is going. So why did English crunch up its heavenly farewell? I can't seem to imagine, although English has a tendency of abbreviating where possible. The great thing about this is that if you ask Spanish speakers about adios, they don't realize it's two words smashed into one. Then again, we English speakers mostly have no inkling of the conception of goodbye, so maybe I should apologize.
Also, if they play Hello Goodbye for that Target advert one more time, I might choke someone.
(Shira out.)
3 comments:
I'll be honest: I never knew that before. Great work. Something interesting, by the way--ever look up the etymology of "blog?" Here's hoping this isn't one of those things everyone knew but me.
david s: "web log" --> "weblog" --> "blog" is the most commonly cited etymology path.
Post: Yes--adios, adieu, and adeus all come from the Latin "ad deus", "to God". I'm sure Spanish/Portuguese/French/etc. speakers who know Latin would realize this.
Thank you lietk, I was aware of that, having wondered about it and looked it up. Is this common knowledge? That's why I asked.
As for the adios thing, I noticed it myself but, having never been told such in class, was unsure if it was meaningful or coincidental. Now I am enlightened. Thank you Shira.
Post a Comment