Ayuda me, por favor!

August 27, 2007 6:42 AM

What are some Spanish-language idioms or expressions for "Goodbye" (or similar) to put on a going-away cake?

We have some friends that are moving away soon and who are also in the process of learning Spanish as a family. We're having a going-away party for them and would like to have an appropriate phrase on the cake, but in Spanish.

Obvious choices would be "A Dios!" or "Hasta la Vista", but those are pretty generic. It'd be nice to have a cute little Spanish saying or idiom that would fit the going-away theme.

I had three years of Spanish in high school and am pretty comfortable with the basics, but I was never immersed in the culture enough to know any really unique expressions like this.

Thanks!

posted by sprocket87 to writing & language (17 comments total)

Most Spanish speakers I know say "Ciao" as their version of "Bye."
posted by elquien at 6:54 AM on August 27, 2007

"que te vaije bien" = may you go well.

my host parents would say it to me every time i left the house, when i lived with them in Costa Rica.
posted by raztaj at 6:55 AM on August 27, 2007

*vaya, not vaija
posted by raztaj at 6:57 AM on August 27, 2007

"Nos vemos " means see you soon.
posted by snoogles at 6:59 AM on August 27, 2007

Most Spanish speakers I know say "Ciao" as their version of "Bye."

True. And since you'll be writing it out, the hispanicized spelling is usually more akin to "chau."
posted by kittyprecious at 7:05 AM on August 27, 2007

Seconding "que te vaya bien" which is a nice idiom for "good luck". I suppose you can add the "Goodbye" element and make it "Adios, que te vaya bien!". Since it's a family "Adios, que les vaya bien!" is the more correct form.
posted by lucia__is__dada at 7:14 AM on August 27, 2007

How about: "¡Buena suerte y buen viaje!"

the hispanicized spelling is usually more akin to "chau."
I'd spell it 'chao' [CHILEAN]

And it's "adiós", not "a dios" (and "ayúdame", not "ayuda me".)
posted by signal at 7:29 AM on August 27, 2007

hasta luego = so long
buen viaje = bon voyage
if you wanna give "chau" a cool twist, you can write "chao pescao" (it literally means "good bye fish", which doesn't mean anything, it's just a cool sounding rhyme, commonly used here, in the Caribbean.)
posted by micayetoca at 7:30 AM on August 27, 2007

Thanks for the Spanish grammar reminder, signal. I know about the accents but really didn't feel like digging through Character Map to insert them. Forgot about the spacing though ;)

"Adios, que les vaya bien!" is my favorite so far. Question (for those more Spanish-grammer savvy - signal!): Shouldn't it be "Adios, que les vayan bien!" since it's addressed to a group?

Sorry if I'm off, just want to make sure.
posted by sprocket87 at 7:37 AM on August 27, 2007

Update: Just found this nice reference which explained why you can leave "vaya" alone. so "Adiós, que les vaya bien!" would be the correct way (right?).
posted by sprocket87 at 7:45 AM on August 27, 2007

Right.
posted by signal at 7:50 AM on August 27, 2007

Got it. Thanks signal, and thanks all!
posted by sprocket87 at 7:50 AM on August 27, 2007

Please remember the openning "¡", if you're going for hypercorrectness.
posted by signal at 7:53 AM on August 27, 2007

(and "ayúdame", not "ayuda me".)

Or since we're a group, "Ayúdenme." Ah, the particularities of agreement.
posted by kittyprecious at 7:59 AM on August 27, 2007

Shouldn't it be "Adios, que les vayan bien!"

that caught me for a minute, but i it's "i hope it goes well with (all of) you", not "hope you go well".
posted by andrew cooke at 8:06 AM on August 27, 2007

also, it's not "a dios" (to god) but "adiós" (and in chile, at least, that's very "upper class" - you normally say "chao").
posted by andrew cooke at 8:13 AM on August 27, 2007

que le vaya bien!
posted by DieHipsterDie at 9:49 AM on August 27, 2007