Sorry this is only for SilkyThreat, they closed the newbie bashing thread and I was unable to correct YOU. Chau is the spanish form of Ciao. The difference between the two of them is that chau can only be used as a farewell. 
I stand corrected, sir…and was only teasing in the first place. I also just now saw this thread.
Hey! But thanks! It’s the first time I’ve ever had my name in a thread and a Pit Thread at that!!
May I just say that this is a really lame Pit thread. Learn Spanish? Jeez…almost as bad as the time Corex called me out for forgetting to attribute my sig to him.
Bizzaro.
Zette
Isn’t it actually the Spanish spelling of the Italian word “ciao”? That’s akin to someone using the expression “se la vie” when speaking English. It’s common but it’s still an English spelling of a foreign word–not English.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but what the heck, seeing as Estilicon started a thread for it…
Chau is actually the Agertinian/Uruguayan twist on the spelling of the phonetic sound of the Italian word ciao. The more accepted spelling is actually chao. IOW, they use/hear an “U” ending to the word, whereas most other Spanish speaking countries pronounce it with an “O” as the original Italian word.
So, if you weren’t already confused, trust this post will do the trick
Sorry Silky thread, It wasn’t my intention to “send you to the pit”, I wanted to correct you and the other thread was closed.
Red Fury and Monty, no there is a difference between Ciao and Chau (incidentally, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the word “chao”) Ciao can be use to say “hello” and goodbye" not so with chau, it can only be use as “goodbye”.
Both RedFury and Monty are right. “Ciao” is an Italian word, which comes from “schiavo vostro,” meaning your slave. “Chao” and “chau” are Spanish spellings of this word and don’t have any origins in Spanish. I don’t know what you mean by “no difference.” The reason why you’ve never seen “chao” is because it’s not the common spelling in your part of the world.
Estilicon,
I see you’re located in Argentina, the reason that matters is not because I’m questioning what you’re saying or your interpretation but rather because I am trying to give you a more comprehensive explanation.
See, I’m a Spaniard and I also know what I speak of. As I mentioned before, chao is the most common of the Spanish spellings of the word, and if you look at the dictionary of **La Real Academia de la Lengua Española** which most people take as the highest authority of our language, you’ll find essentially the same explanation I gave in my prior post.
En cuanto al significado de la palabra en si, tanto en España como en los paises Latinoamericanos que conozco, decimos “chao” normalmente como una despedida. Y por cierto, no conocia el uso de ‘ciao’ en su sentido y forma original Italiana como dices que lo usais en Argentina.
Algo se aprende a diario. Aunque sea poco 
Un saludo.