The original term seems to have come into use during the First World War, particularly as a way of expressing enthusiasm.īy 1976, journalists agreed it was now the most common colloquialism for thanks. The most common usage is simply as a way of saying thanks. “Cheers” has several meanings in British slang, as I touched on earlier. “I’ve got to be going now, I’ll see you around!” for example.Ī really common and catch-all slang term for goodbye. This variation is much less personal, and the kind of thing you might say to an acquaintance you see in the street at the end of a polite chat.
That said, you can also use it in situations where you will not, in fact, see them later. “See you later” is perhaps the most common in British slang and is usually more reserved for situations where the two speakers will actually see each other again. There are, of course, several variations of the above slang term. “Be seeing you,” for instance, is more of an American slang term. It’s in such ubiquitous use that it’s really hard to trace, though it may originally have come from Americanisms. Its not clear where this phrase originated. It could also be used in the specific sense of not knowing when you will next see someone: “See you when I see you!” This is universally used in pretty much every area of Britain to some degree, though certainly more in some places than others. It might be said or spelled as “see ya”, or even just “cya”. It’s not clear when it came to take on its present sense, though it seems to have been sometime in the last century.Ī perfect all-rounder and one recognizable doubtless to many English speakers and not just the British, next we have “see you”. It came to be a secular equivalent to “god be with you”, which is of course the origin of the term “goodbye”. Of course, the phrase itself is very much older than its present sense.Īs far back as the 1580s, “take care” was a phrase indicating you should pay attention to something, and you should be way of it. The meaning is quite clear-the literal idea is that you take care, be safe, don’t get yourself into trouble! Though the words that make up this phrase aren’t, in themselves, slang, the phrase itself has come to be one of the most commonly used slang and informal expressions for saying goodbye. It was in widespread regional use by the middle of the 1960s, and so has slowly fallen out of usage since then. It’s certainly less common today than it once was, but nonetheless, it is still widely used by the older generations. It’s thought that this one may even originate in the Welsh language, where it eventually seeped into neighboring areas of the north of England. It has precisely the same meaning and is as I say simply another form of “ta-ta”. It’s a much more northern phrase, particularly used in Lancashire and parts of Yorkshire. It was popularized even further during the Second World War thanks, as I mentioned, to radio abbreviations of the term used commonly in plays and dramas.įollowing on from that, “tarra” is a regional corruption of “ta-ta”. It caught on very quickly and eventually came to be an all-round term for goodbye, not just used in nursery settings. Our first recorded use of the term is cited by the OED in 1823, where it was used as a nursery expression for goodbye. “Tata” may be rather regional and archaic today, but nonetheless it is still used and understood.Ī very common use of this term is in the phrase “ta-ta for now!” which was often abbreviated to “TTFN”, especially in things like greetings cards and even on the radio.Īgain, this one can be used in just about any situation, no matter how formal or informal, though it admittedly could come off as overly friendly with the wrong person. The term became more widely known and thus more widely used to say goodbye. It was no doubt popularized by the advent of the Cheerios cereal, which debuted in 1941. In 1896 it is first recorded as just “cheero”, and then by 1918 at least it has become “cheerio”. The origin of this term is found in the late 19 th Century, where it was essentially an alteration of “cheer”.Ĭheer itself was a salutation for many situations, probably originating from “cheers” as used for a toast. You could use this for a shopkeeper, a good friend, an acquaintance, just about anyone! It’s universally understood and though it can be more regional than some terms, any British person is likely to know what you mean by cheerio. “I’ve got to go now, cheerio!” for example. Perhaps the most widely used slang term meaning goodbye, “cheerio” is something you could say for goodbye in just about any situation.
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