different ways to say Goodbye

It occurred to me the other day that in many different languages, saying 'goodbye' refers to God. Did you know that in English, 'goodbye' is a contraction of 'God be with you'? Maybe I shouldn't have let the cat out of the bag -- I can just imagine some politically correct secularist claiming that it is innapropriate to say this word in a public place.

The whole question of what 'goodbye' really means came to me the other evening while talking to a Muslim waitress in town. For some reason, I seem to see her almost every Sunday on my way to church, and on Friday evenings on my way home. I'm not sure how it works out that her break happens exactly when I'm passing by, but we generally nod and smile and say 'hi' as I pass.

On Friday evening, I felt led to actually stop and talk to her. I noticed a slight accent and asked where she was from. When she said Cyprus, I asked what language she spoke (since it might be Turkish or Greek). She said Turkish, so I was happy that I had a particular way of reaching out. I said 'hello' to her in Turkish. She was pleased, and said 'merhaba' back. I invited her to church, and she told me she is Muslim. I said she would be welcome to come visit anyway, and she seemed pleased, but her Sunday shift starts at 9:30am so she can't make it.

As we wrapped up our conversation, I said 'goodbye' to her in Turkish. 'Allaha ismarladik'. And she responded with the classis 'Güle güle' , which spoken by the person who is staying, and actually means 'go with a smile'. And then I suddenly remembered that the word for word translation of what I had said actually meant 'I'm leaving you with God, or I put myself in the hands of God'.

That made me think of the other languages that also invoke God's blessing when you say farewell. Think of 'Adieu' (French), or of 'Adios' (Spanish).

I tried looking up some other languages, and found a website that gives common greetings in 800 languages. It turns out that many languages are very specific in how one says goodbye, depending on how many people you are speaking to, or whether you are the one going or staying, or whether it is night or morning, or whether it is formal or informal. My favorite was Kwanyama (a language I'm not familiar with). In Kwanyama you have to keep track of whether you are person #1, 2, 3 or 4 in the conversation.

Just remember that when you say 'goodbye' you are really blessing someone. In this secular day and age, it's a sneaky way of praying for someone without anyone noticing!

Goodbye!