Saying goodbye

Getting in touch with people may be quite a challenge. Doing the opposite is no simple matter either: is it forever or just for a while?

‘Goodbye' without any modification has an element of permanence - can you hear the seriousness of this sentence? ‘It is time to say goodbye'.

‘Bye-bye', ‘see you later' or ‘see you tomorrow' express expectation of another encounter.

More informal - British - examples are ‘Cheerio' or ‘Cheers'. These expressions are generally used by young people - or people who wish to sound young.

When a TV programme is over, the announcer may say ‘Our next edition of Sports Now will be broadcast tomorrow afternoon. Until then, goodbye'. The ‘until then' is pretty important; if he or she had only said ‘Goodbye', we may never see that TV announcer again!