how do you say goodbye?
October 15th, 2008 @ 6:01 am
i don’t like talking on the phone for one reason: i don’t know how to say goodbye.
“see ya?”
“mmmkay, bye?”
“…awkward silence…”
am i the only one with this problem?
on the flip side, i’ve noticed some people say the exact same thing whenever they say goodbye. after playing phone tag with a particular person for a while, this person always closes with:
“seeya later, bye”
which doesn’t make since because he and i:
a) have never met
and
b) will likely never see each other
how do you say goodbye?
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Ryan Detzel said,
October 15, 2008 at 6:14 am
I’m guilty of either saying I’ll see someone later, who I probably won’t, or that I’ll talk to them soon when it’s obviously a one-time call…example…telemarketers.
I’ll think, What the heck…why did I tell them I’ll talk to them soon?
Dang…I just thought back to several phone conversations from yesterday and the majority of them had at least one awkward point. I hate talking on the phone.
connormcc said,
October 15, 2008 at 6:54 am
I have a few… either
see you later
or
cheerio
or
all the best, bye
Shanda said,
October 15, 2008 at 7:04 am
At least he didn’t say, “Love you, bye bye…” That’s what I usually do, it’s just habit. But it’s made for some pretty awkward moments.
Bill (cycleguy) said,
October 15, 2008 at 7:10 am
I never say good-bye. I will tell a fellow Christ-follower “see you later.” Sometimes I will say, “Okay. Later.” Or just “see ya.” But never “Good-bye.”
Annabelle@Christian Momma said,
October 15, 2008 at 7:20 am
Usually I say “Talk to you later, Bye” or just plain simple “bye”
chris fann said,
October 15, 2008 at 7:25 am
you know from taking to me on the phone that i offer my share of awkward moments. i deplore talking on the phone. i’m not sure what usual sign off i get as once on the phone my brain becomes sludge and is not useful. the funniest part of this is that i worked as a sales rep for a christian book distributor for 2 years and had to do 90% of the sales on the phone.
also, i wish i could pull off “cheers”, but sadly, cannot
Tammy Marcelain said,
October 15, 2008 at 7:40 am
I am a “talk to you later” and then an “o.k., bye” to finally finish it off phone gal. Although like Shanda above, when our family talks we just end it with a “love you, bye.” I have had to do some quick explaining when I am on the phone several times. Sometimes I will hang up and think to myself, “did I just tell them I loved them?” It could have been somewhat of a stranger, but I might have told them I loved them. Oh well, c’est la vie. Many in my family say ‘love ya, see ya’ it always reminds me of my Nana because that was how she ended a phone call or a visit, and we would say back “love ya, see ya, Nana honey” and right before she passed away about two years ago, that was what we all said.
Nina said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:00 am
My friend and I were just talking about this the other day! We both don’t know how to end phone conversations and just rattle something off awkwardly. At work the other day, I managed a “mmmthanksyouokaynoproblemmmm, uh okay, click” while the poor lady on the other side patiently waited for me to finish. I’m also guilty of the very long goodbyes in which I accidentally echo what the other person said, creating a “see ya later” loop until one of us hangs up. Maybe the goodbye was meant to be awkward and unnatural.
Shawn said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:06 am
OK…You know me Anne…I’ll need to add a mit iof humor here:
arrivederci
buenos noche
chow
adios
aloha (Goodbye and Hello)
see ya later alligator
cheerio
And..if you really want a comprehensive listing of 450 different languages you can go to this site:
http://www.elite.net/~runner/jennifers/goodbye.htm
Steph said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:09 am
I usually wait and let the other person take charge of the goodbye. which has led to many awkward silent moments and sudden hang-ups if the other person does the same!
brandiandboys said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:15 am
talk to ya soon! is my usual sign-off.
Tracy Edwards said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:28 am
OK. . . I don’t have this problem. I typically just say “talk soon.” But, I have a friend who stresses over this exact thing. She wants closure when she hangs up. So, she always feels like loose ends need to be tied up and there needs to be some type of nice ribbon on the package. It cracks me up!
josh lauritch said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:31 am
you gotta let some silence build and then after about 3 seconds just say “ok goodbye”. It’s abrupt and kinda funny!
Gerald said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:34 am
okbye. all one word. then just hang up. it’s beautiful.
lynse leanne said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:46 am
Depends. There is the “I love you. Bye”. The “ok, bye”. Or the “I’ll talk to you later.”
Those are my 3 staples and it depends on our relationship.
Evan Blackerby said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:47 am
if i am in an overly Christian mood…. “may the Lord bless you and keep you.”
just playing :-)
I think I have a habit of saying “mmmmmbye” with lots of “m’s”
John Ireland said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:49 am
like some above, i have a variety that i use:
“later”
“great! thanks, bye”
“see ya, bruh”
“see ya, buddy”
and, the occasional “ciao”
Spence Smith said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:55 am
ummm…later, call ya tomorrow.
Travis Thompson said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:00 am
This is so funny to me - whenever I feel that the conversation as reached it’s nadir, I simply say “k-bye” and hang up. Drives some people nuts. Most people, however, adapt and start doing it. I feel like this is an area where God has gifted me to lead, this area of hanging up the phone . . .
Emily said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:01 am
Sometimes we do this thing where we say, “Biiiiiiiiiiiiii (for a really long time)iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii cycle!” and hang up really fast. I don’t know why.
Cristy said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:01 am
if i’m talking to a family member it’s “loveyoubye” and if not it’s “byebye.”
Tuneman said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:09 am
have a good day
Brad Ruggles said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:09 am
Yeah, I have a bad habit of saying “seeya later” on the phone or at the end of an email when I’ve (a) never met the person face-to-face and (b) may never actually “see them later”
Brad Ruggles said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:10 am
Oh well, it’s better than “goodbye” though. Goodbye just sounds so final so I think I’ll just stick with “seeya later”.
Or the nice thing about being a guy is we can say to other guys, “later dude” or “seeya bro.” Girls don’t really have those kind of options in their parting vocabulary do they?
adam herod said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:22 am
A simple “Peace” usually does the trick, although I’m with Brad that guys have a lot gruffer and easier sign offs when talking to other dudes. Although, when I talk to my wife every conversation ends with I love you. That sounds really sappy now that I’ve typed it out, but it’s true.
LorelaiCC aka C.C. Almon said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:25 am
My response is typically, ok, talk to you later, bye.
aaron said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:34 am
i pull up to the apartment and do an awkward reach back hand shake.
At least it was still Christian physical contact.
Evan Courtney said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:47 am
“ok, thanks” *click*
even if they called me for a favor.
David said,
October 15, 2008 at 9:53 am
I like to hint at the end of the conversation for at least 5 minutes by using that certain tone of voice…you know the one. Its always best to force the other party to say bye first if possible, make them do the work! Haha, just kidding but I am horrible at getting off the phone.
Heidi Reed said,
October 15, 2008 at 10:02 am
“See ya — bye”
“Talk to ya later — bye”
“Ok — bye”
If it’s my husband or a close family member:
“I love you, bye”
Ryan Vincent said,
October 15, 2008 at 10:24 am
either “cya cornfry”
or with a big southern drawl “baaaye!”
Ray said,
October 15, 2008 at 11:04 am
“Love is never having to say good-bye”. Kind of sappy, from Love Story.
How about, “have a nice day” (or evening)?
Becky said,
October 15, 2008 at 11:38 am
I usually say “Talk to ya later.”
That or “Ciao.”
Amy Duncan said,
October 15, 2008 at 11:59 am
if i’m talking to my husband on the phone, it’s always “i love you”. but we both know it’s not always “I LOVE YOU”. i guess it’s better than nothing, huh?
and for friends and family it’s “alright, bye”. i know…i’m so eloquent. :)
mike foster said,
October 15, 2008 at 12:58 pm
it usually goes like this….
“OK (fill in callers name here), ive got more important things to do then shoot the breeze with you. we can continue this on twitter if you want. but don’t expect me to respond to your direct tweets either. and remember, dont go away mad, just go away.”
but seriously, it goes like…
“chat soon. bye”
mike.
tony said,
October 15, 2008 at 1:53 pm
i just hang up. what the heck does ‘bye bye’ mean anyway?
David said,
October 15, 2008 at 2:06 pm
goodbye is a shortened form of “God be with ye”
David said,
October 15, 2008 at 2:08 pm
For the curious: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=good-bye
Fran said,
October 15, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Well…depends on who I am talking to…
Hubs: “Love you, bye!”
friends: “see ya later…bye!”
parents: “Love you too, bye.”
I guess thats it. :) And…a fabulous post above. I adopted my first child after y’all got back from Uganda. Precious Sophia is in my heart. Thanks for writing what you did.
Hugs…
Yonas said,
October 15, 2008 at 4:49 pm
During my non-single years:
“OK i’m gonna hang up now….Bye”
“Ok..you hang up”
“No…you hang up”
“No..I want you to hang up”
“Well, no I want YOU to hang up”
“OK…let’s hang up together…ok?”
“1…2…3…”
*silence*
“OK why didn’t you hang up?”
Back to top eighteen more times. I’d rather have that rather than ignored emails (no…not you Anne…just in case you wonder) :)
Phil Thompson said,
October 15, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I end with, “bye bye” in a completely different tone in which i normally speak. I picked it up from the late Dr. Walter Martin. He would have an very intense conversation on his radio show with some cult member or angry person and than when his time was up he would sound all nice and friendly and say, “bye bye”. It started as a joke years ago and has just kept going.
Crystal Renaud said,
October 15, 2008 at 8:19 pm
i avoid talking on this phone for this very reason. i generally just stick with a simple, “okay bye.”
Joel H. Williams said,
October 17, 2008 at 9:46 am
whatever happened to “take off hozer”
Deb said,
October 19, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I don’t really struggle with it at all. I usually call someone with an idea of how long I want to talk to them, and make sure I have a reason to hang up after that time - ‘OK then…. I have to start cooking dinner, but it was nice to catch up - bye!’….or ‘my lunch break’s nearly over, better get going. Take care and we’ll catch up again soon’. Or much of the time a phone call is to arrange a time to hang out later that day, so it becomes ‘I’ll just finish ………….. then I’ll come over - see you then’.
Telemarketers I tell quickly that I’m not interested, then ‘thanks anyway, good luck!’ *click*
The only awkward one I occasionally get is when talking to my boss - ‘me: is there anything else you need?….boss: no….me: OK, have fun!’ Oops, I never mean to trivialise today’s set of city meetings, but Mum always used to tell us ‘have fun’ or ‘be good’ when we parted for the day….at least I haven’t told him that one.
I tell Mum ‘be good’ when we part though ;)