Back in the Spanish Civil War (36-39), the republican side being anti-clerical, and probably anti-religious in general, said good-bye with “Salud!” instead of the traditional ‘Adios’, to avoid having to mention the Dios part.
Question: Does this usage survive? Is there any replacement, for political or other reasons, for ‘Adios’, is maybe, (communist controlled) Cuba?
And would the use of “Salud” make sense as a goodbye in modern spanish? (I.e. if i use it?)
When I was in Barcelona in the 1960’s I don’t remember anyone saying salud (which was an archaic greeting. Don’t know about it being a way to say goodbye, but you probably know more than me.)
I haven’t heard salud but I’ve heard lots of people saying ‘luego’ - in fact, whenever I greet with ‘adios’ I seem to get a ‘luego’ in response and vice versa. But maybe that’s just me, though.
ETA: maybe I should add that I’m not Spanish and that my Spanish is none too good but still somehow passable and that I have done some travelling around Spain over the last couple of years, which what I’m basing my observations on.
In South America (and Cuba) it’s “chao,” and not for any anti-religious or political reasons. I’m not sure, but I think it’s just a the influence of Italian via Argentina.
When I lived in Spain (2001-02), the preferred way to say goodbye was “hasta luego,” which translates to “until then.” A crusty old Spanish man explained to me that in Spain they do not say “adios” because it implies a permanent goodbye.
The only time I’ve heard someone say “salud” is when someone sneezes. It may have been born as a way to avoid saying the more-usual “Jesús” (which is kind of funny, as it would put the atheists more in the field of “not saying the name of G-d” than the practicing Catholics), but it’s generally viewed as archaic.
“Hasta luego,” “ta luego,” “ta lueguito,” “luego”, “lueguito” are all “see you later” (the ta is a shortening of “hasta,” but Spanish doesn’t bother with apostrophes) and indeed some people think it sounds less permanent than “adiós.” “Hasta mañana” (see you tomorrow) or “hasta la vista” (until next time we meet) also can be interpreted as “less permanent” than “adiós.” I use them quite interchangeably and didn’t meet someone who thought “adiós” sounded too permanent until I was already in my 20s; I only say something like “hasta mañana” if I am, indeed, meeting that person again the next day or “hasta el lunes” (until Monday) to my coworkers on Friday.
LOL. Just the maricones, I guess. I wasn’t disputing its use; I also wasn’t slandering gay people by using “gay” as a substitute for “stupid.” Rather, I was literally suggesting that it sounds “gay.” Effeminate man-talk. On the high side, maybe something a child or non-adult woman would utter.