goodbye：被壓縮成一個字的祝福
We say "goodbye" so often that we never stop to think about what it means. But if you look at its history, you'll find a little blessing hidden inside it.
Around 400 years ago, in Shakespeare's time, people often said "God be with you" when they parted. It was a way of wishing someone a safe journey and good luck. But as you might expect, a phrase that people said dozens of times a day wasn't going to stay that long. In speech, "God be with you" got squashed together, and in letters people wrote it in shortened forms like "God b'wy" and "godbwye".
At the same time, English already had several other friendly greetings that began with "good", such as "good morning", "good day" and "good night". Over time, people began to say and write the word as if it started with "good" too. And so "godbwye" slowly turned into "goodbye".
Many languages have farewells with similar hidden meanings. The Spanish "adiós" means "to God". The French "adieu" also means "to God". The Japanese "sayōnara" originally meant something like "if that is how it must be".
These days, of course, English speakers often skip "goodbye" altogether and just say "bye", "see you", "take care" or, in New Zealand and Australia, "see ya later". But the next time you say goodbye to someone, remember that you're really wishing them well.
我們說「goodbye」說得太頻繁了，從來沒有停下來想過它到底是什麼意思。可是如果你去翻翻它的歷史，就會發現裡面藏著一句小小的祝福。
大約 400 年前，也就是莎士比亞的時代，人們道別時常說「God be with you」（願上帝與你同在），用來祝對方一路平安、好運相隨。不過可想而知，一句每天要說幾十遍的話，是不會一直保持那麼長的。在口語裡，「God be with you」被擠壓在一起；在信裡，人們把它寫成「God b'wy」「godbwye」這樣的縮寫。
同時，英文裡已經有好幾句以「good」開頭的友善問候語，例如「good morning」（早安）、「good day」（日安）和「good night」（晚安）。慢慢地，人們也開始把這個字當成以「good」開頭來說、來寫。就這樣，「godbwye」漸漸變成了「goodbye」。
很多語言裡的道別語，都藏著類似的含義。西班牙文的「adiós」意思是「交給上帝」，法文的「adieu」也是「交給上帝」的意思。日文的「さようなら」，原本的意思大概是「既然如此，那就這樣吧」。
當然，現在說英文的人常常連「goodbye」都省了，直接說「bye」「see you」「take care」，或是像在紐西蘭和澳洲那樣，說一句「see ya later」。不過下次你跟別人說再見時，別忘了，你其實是在祝福對方。