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Published: 2023-10-15 04:39:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 351; Favourites: 0; Downloads: 0
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Description Time and culture has a peculiar effect on language. Centuries ago, a common parting phrase that was used was "Fare thee well." Over time, possibly due to the way we have a tendency to shorten words in the form of contractions (eg. I've = I have; haven't = have not; wouldn't = would not; shouldn't've = should not have; I'ven't = I have not; Whomst'd've = ???), "fare thee well" has become what we commonly know as "Farewell."

Where other phrases like "good night" and "good evening" are simply the wishing of good tidings for the remainder of the day for the recipient, "goodbye" is not as straightforward. The first known use of the word “goodbye” was recorded in 1573 in a letter by English writer and scholar, Gabriel Harvey, which reads: “To requite your gallonde [gallon] of godbwyes, I regive you a pottle of howdyes.”† “Godbwye” is a contraction of the phrase “God be with ye.‡ For a number of years, it seemed no one could agree on the spelling of the shortened form and many versions have been recorded in writing throughout history, such as: god-b’wye, god b' w' ye, and good-b’wy. Throughout the years the word “good” was substituted for “god” due to the influence of phrases such as “good day” or “good evening" and eventually settled into the form we know it as today.

As a bonus, here is a short list of other greetings and parting words:
English: goodbye = godbwye = "God be with ye"
English: farewell = fare thee well
English: hello (came into common usage after the invention of the telephone)
English: ahoy (Bell wanted to use this instead of "hello")
English: howdy = "how do you do"
English: toodles = a toute a l'heure (French) = "see you later"
Spanish: adios = "to God"
Spanish: hasta la vista = "see you later"
Portuguese: adeus = vá com deus = "go with God" / "go to God"
Portuguese: bem-vind(oa) = "good/well arrival/come"
Catalan = adéu = adios (Spanish)French: adieu = "to God"
French: au revoir = "to the next time we see"
French: bon voyage = "have a good journey"
Italian: benvenuto = "good/well arrival/come"
Venetian: ciao = "I am your slave"§

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"Farethill"
This is my version of saying farewell to someone you particularly dislike or hate. I try not be the inventor of new ways to hate, but I was noticing, that of the English language, parting words most often bestow blessings or well wishes. While phrases such as "go fuck yourself" have a particular bite to them, I wanted something that somebody could express their enmity in a way that doesn't require that they reduce themself to crass vulgarity.

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Footnotes
† "To return your gallon of "goodbyes" I give to you a half gallon of "how do you do"s

‡ In that sense, uttering a simple "bye" is just a shortened form of "be with ye" so be with yourself, or be alone. lol

§ The word derives from the Venetian phrase s-ciào vostro or s-ciào su literally meaning "(I am) your slave". This greeting is analogous to the medieval Latin servus which is still used colloquially in parts of Central/Eastern Europe, or the antiquated English valediction Your Obedient Servant. The expression was not a literal statement of fact, but rather a perfunctory promise of good will among friends (along the lines of "at your service" in English). The Venetian word for "slave", s-ciào or s-ciàvo, derives from Medieval Latin sclavus, a loanword from Medieval Greek Σκλάβος, related to the ethnic "Slavic", since most of the slaves at that time came from the Balkans. This greeting was eventually shortened to ciào, lost all its servile connotations and came to be used as an informal salutation by speakers of all classes. In modern Italian language, the word is used (in addition to the meaning of salutation) as an exclamation of resignation (also in a positive sense), as in Oh, va be', ciao! ("Oh, well, never mind!"). A Milanese tongue-twister says Se gh'hinn gh'hinn; se gh'hinn nò, s'ciào ("If there is [money], there is; if there isn't, farewell! [there's nothing we can do]").

Final thoughts: In typography, the symbol which often consists of three spaced asterisks in a horizontal row, i.e. * * *, is called a "dinkus"

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