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bon voyage

bon voyage

16 6.3
Words people say to wish someone a good and safe trip
  • noun
  • /bɒn vɔɪˈɑːʒ/
translation icon : buen viaje
  • As he prepared to leave, his friends shouted, 'Bon voyage! Enjoy your travels!'
  • wish you bon voyage
  • say bon voyage
  • bon voyage party

So with that, I wish you a fond bon voyage until Tuesday.

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Examples

  • Here's a little bon voyage present for you guys.

  • And so, Joe, we wish you bon voyage with this farewell drink.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Now it's time to say bon voyage.

  • We're having a bon voyage party.

  • I mean, bon voyage, congratulations, all the best.

  • "Bon voyage," I said, "and thank you."

    Fiction book (2001)
  • So with that, I wish you a fond bon voyage until Tuesday.

  • A banner hangs over them which reads: BON VOYAGE TO VIETNAM!

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Bon voyage!

  • Goodnight, Captain—and bon voyage.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

Godspeed
vsbon voyage
  • Literature
35 8.1

Good wishes for someone starting a journey or new task to be safe and successful

wishes specifically for a good and safe journey rather than other undertakings

How Supportive

Godspeed
  • Literature
35 8.1
bon voyage
16 6.3
good luck
547 1.0
goodbye
1.0

Surface Forms

bon voyage singular
bon voyages plural

Morphology

bon + voyage

The phrase literally combines 'bon' (good) + 'voyage' (journey), so its meaning 'good/safe journey' is directly derivable from the constituents. Although 'bon' is a French loanword in English, the compositional logic is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both constituents will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Bon voyage, from the French words bon meaning 'good' and voyage meaning 'journey', was often said at train stations and ports to wish travellers a safe trip, so English speakers now use it to 'wish someone a good and safe journey'.