so long
77
6.3
- idiom
- /soʊ lɔŋ/
- Informal
:
adiós
- It was nice meeting you, so long!
Examples
-
So long as we can find the right photographer.
-
Oh, Supernatural, I'm about to say goodbye, so long and thanks for all the fish.
Blog text (29) -
So long, Chip.
-
So long, y'all.
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After our conversation, I waved and said, 'So long!'
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With a smile, she turned to her friends and said, 'So long, everyone!'
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
131
1.0
A polite or formal way to say goodbye when parting
59
1.0
Words or actions people use when they leave
50
4.4
Words or actions people use when they leave each other
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
22
8.5
A polite way to say goodbye when you expect to see someone again
17
8.9
A friendly way to say goodbye
11
9.8
A friendly way to say goodbye
1
9.9
A playful word people use to say goodbye
1
3.0
A short phrase people say when they leave each other
A casual way to say goodbye to someone
A friendly informal way to say goodbye when you will see or speak to someone soon
A German phrase people use to say goodbye
A funny way to say goodbye when leaving a group
A friendly old-fashioned British way to say goodbye
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
so + long
Although the constituents 'so' (to such an extent) and 'long' (for a great length of time) are individually transparent, the use of 'so long' as an informal farewell is a conventionalized pragmatic meaning not directly deducible from the literal phrase. The literal sense ('for a long time') gives a partial clue linking to parting but does not reliably predict the goodbye function for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
So long may come from an older use of the words so and long, which together meant 'for a long time' or 'until then'. People would say it like 'until we meet again', and it became a short, casual way to say 'goodbye'.