pip pip
- idiom
- /pɪp pɪp/
- Archaic
- Pip pip! I'll see you next week.
Examples
-
Pip, pip!
-
Now, pip-pip and tally-ho, my good fellows, I do believe this chap requires our utmost attention.
-
As I waved goodbye, I called out, 'pip pip!' to my friends.
-
She smiled and said, 'pip pip!' before leaving the gathering.
Synonyms
∞
8.4
A friendly way to say goodbye when you expect to meet again
∞
1.0
Words people say when they leave each other
306
1.0
A short word or action people use when they leave each other
279
1.1
A friendly informal way to say goodbye when leaving
77
6.3
A casual word for goodbye used when leaving someone
59
1.0
Words or actions people use when they leave
47
8.5
A casual way to say hello or goodbye in Italy
34
7.2
A word people use to say goodbye
31
8.6
A goodbye used when someone leaves for a long time
24
9.3
A final goodbye you say when leaving for a long time
1
9.9
A playful word people use to say goodbye
1
3.0
A short phrase people say when they leave each other
1
4.6
A short spoken or written message saying goodbye and good wishes
A cheerful informal way to say goodbye
A friendly informal word used to thank someone, say goodbye, and to make a toast before drinking
A casual way to say goodbye to someone
A funny way to say goodbye when leaving a group
Surface Forms
Morphology
pip + pip
The interjection 'pip pip' is a fossilized, old-fashioned British farewell whose meaning is conventional rather than compositional: the repeated form 'pip' has no clear lexical sense here. Because the constituents contribute no predictable semantic information, a B1 learner who knows the words would not be able to derive 'goodbye' without prior exposure.
Etymology
Pip pip may come from the quick sound of a small whistle or a short beep; one popular story says people copied the cheerful sound pip as a friendly farewell. So the little bright noise became a light, old-fashioned way to say 'goodbye'.