Going with God

GOOD-BYE: a concluding remark or gesture at parting; a taking of leave

Good-bye is a word so often used that it has become a reflex for most English speakers. After all, it has been a part of the language since the late 16th century. The Oxford English Dictionary gives as its first meaning “a form of address at parting; farewell.” The valediction began in the 1570s as godbwye, itself a contraction of “God be with ye,” a phrase that appears in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost in 1588 as “God be wy ye.” Etymologists cite other forms, including God buy ye (typically updated to “Good-bye” in many modern editions), as found in Hamlet, as part of the word’s evolution.

That Shakespearean usage is a prayer that God will accompany another in leave-taking and the journey thereafter. Implicit in the worldview is the belief that God takes a personal interest in our movements and interactions. Further, the speaker expresses the wish that God “buy” the hearers—that is, that God redeem them. (Redeem means “to buy back,” “to free from the consequences of sin” by payment of a ransom.) Considering it is addressed to the treacherous Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the words seem appropriate.

Other Languages

In other European languages, the commendation to God of one taking his or her leave is more obvious. The French adieu—derived from a dieu (vous) commant, “I commend (you) to God”—is also often used by English speakers. American English borrowed adios from Spanish speakers in the Southwest. Adios came from the Spanish a dios vos acomiendo, “I commend you to God.” The Portuguese and Gallican adeus and the Catalan a Déu offer the hearer another commendation to God. The Italian addio, as well, entrusts the hearer to God’s care.

Another word spoken at parting in Italy is ciao. While addio is used somewhat formally, especially when the parting may be for an extended period of time, the secular ciao is far more common. It is unlikely that many in Europe know that ciao derives from a Venetian dialect word, s’ciao, meaning “I am your slave.”

The Germanic languages also use nontheistic terms at parting. Germans say tschüß, the Dutch Dag, Swedes Hej då, the Finns hei hei, and both Danes and Norwegians Farvel. These are all informal and secular. You might even be able to detect farewell in the last example. A Germanic language itself, English has retained good-bye, though the secular “farewell,” “so long,” “later,” and “see you” are probably just as common.

Recalling the Origins

Some linguists explain the persistence of the theistic terms for good-bye by noting liturgical and other common religious expressions related to the predominance of Catholicism in those regions where citizens speak Romance languages—and of course, the Romance languages are all direct descendants of Latin, the language of the Catholic Church for over a millennium. However, the German tschüß, originally derived from the French adieu, no longer carries any religious significance.

Even good-bye has lost any obvious religious origins. God became good, probably in imitation of terms like “good day” and “good night.” However, even though unwittingly, the English speaker saying “good-bye” offers a prayer that God take the hearer into his care, either in the course of a journey or as the hearer pursues life where he or she remains. If we remember that theistic origin and occasionally say “God be with you,” perhaps we can begin to re-anchor our speech in a more theistic worldview.

That said, since this is my final column for Salvo, I wish you good-bye. God be with you.