3

I have read/heard at many places where Goodbye is not good. It is a final remark on that very harsh moment.

Scene #1: Mike and Sarah are in good relationship.

"Hey honey, see you tomorrow. Bye!"

Scene #2: Mike and Sarah are now about to break up.

"I don't want to see you anymore. Goodbye!"

You get an idea? The given example is in the context of a relationship but it can be anything. Say friends getting angry at each other and decide not to talk forever. Earlier, they used bye and now, there is final goodbye.

In simple words, is goodbye a final bye?

Improve this question
9
  • I would consider any form of bye simply as parting, not an implication of anything good. I would say goodbye is more formal than bye but otherwise interchangeable.
    – user3169
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 6:38
  • 1
    You may be reading a bit too much into it - to me, the two are absolutely equivalent, both connotatively and denotatively.
    – Alex K
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 6:57
  • Not just reading. I observe/hear that as well. @AlexK Maybe, it's like 'god bless you' in a different tone?
    – Maulik V
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 7:09
  • @MaulikV I didn't mean it in a bad way - just as a passing comment. Maybe it's like god bless you in that regard, but I personally find no difference between the two. Let me phrase this more concretely...To me, there is NO difference between. "Hey honey, see you tomorrow. Bye!" and "Hey honey, see you tomorrow. Good bye!" I prefer "Good bye" for more dramatic situations that are negative, but the words can be used interchangeably in the sentence without changing the connotation surrounding that sentence. This is all in my experience, just commenting....
    – Alex K
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 7:18
  • I did not take it in any other way. I thought that I should clarify it further. Even in some movies I've heard 'more use of' goodbye as a final 'bye'.
    – Maulik V
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 7:20

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
6

Goodbye can be used as a final farewell when someone is ending a relationship or walking out on someone. It is a more formal word than bye and thus makes sense in this context. Also, when slamming the door and walking out on someone, a robust two-syllable goodbye adds strength to the nonverbal cues.

But bye, because of its informality, can be used to express disinterest in someone. Okay, bye, I don't even want to waste a second syllable on you.

So it is not that either word is always worse than the other.

Goodbye is the customary leave taking and while friends may shorten that on a daily basis to other, less formal forms including bye bye (common in AmE), there is nothing inherently "not good" in the full form.

Improve this answer
4

Good-bye, or Goodbye, is a contraction of "God be with ye."

"Bye," "Bye now," "Bye-bye" are all contractions of the contraction. Nothing wrong with any of them.

Improve this answer
1

Goodbye is a formal send-off when parting company. It is an evolved form of :

God be with you.

In the same way that farewell is to :

Fare thee well.

Both goodbye and farewell can have the connotation of finality in a way that no other send-offs have :

They said their last goodbyes before he died.
When she said, "Goodbye.", he knew it was over.
They had waved their final farewells to the ill fated mission on that morning.

but this is not necessarily the case. Probably one of the most famous "goodbyes" was that heard by millions of subscribers to AOL when logging off, and it is hard to imagine AOL not wanting to see their customers again.

Goodbye is also the term used to signify companies parting :

( at this point David and Marie say their goodbyes )
David: Bye Marie, see you tomorrow
Marie: Ciao

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .