The English good-bye is something I've heard about in Ukraine and Russia and I've often wondered what it meant. I wondered, what makes people think we don't say good-bye! I started to think about this in more detail and I think it's probably the many words and phrases we use to say our farewells that cause people to think this as we rarely use the words 'good bye'
There are also many ways of ending a conversation and different ways of saying thank you that also might cause some confusion. So, let's try and smash the myth of the English good-bye.....
Saying good bye – Used just when you are about to leave
Catch you later
See you in a bit
See you – always pronounced as SEE-YA
Have a good one
Have a nice day*
Don't work too hard
See you next time (for a regular meeting)
Take it easy
Laters
Cheers
*Ukrainians often use this at the start of written messages without it meaning to mean good bye. I was trying to think of some phrases to mean this that could go at the start of the conversation, but each one I wrote still indicated the end of the conversation.
There are also certain phrases that are used to END a conversation. These expressions and words should ONLY come at the end of a chat when it's clear the conversation is over and you are about to leave
Ending a conversation - Used before saying one of the phrases for good-bye.
I'm off
I've got to run
I have to love you, and you leave you, but <reason for leaving>
I've got to (gotta) go I need to <reason for leaving>
I've got to be where in <minutes>
It was lovely to talk to you, but I've got to <reason for leaving>
Right! <reason for leaving>
I've got to head off
We also have many ways of saying thank-you and it's quite common for two words or phrases to follow each other. For example, my most common usage of saying thanks is. Nice one, cheers.
Saying thank you
Cheers
Nice one
Thanks
No worries*
You are so kind!
You're a star!
I appreciate it
*this isn't a replacement for thank you, but it is a common response for thank you. It simply means 'No problem'
I hope this has made the 'English good bye' a little clearer...
Cheers
www.luke.lv - English native speaker in Lviv