Browse Definitions :

Good-bye, good-by, goodbye, goodby?

Writing for Business

Which is correct?
According to some lexicographers, we may soon be saying ______ to the word hello because so much communication these days is through social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, where greetings tend to be less formal.
a. good-bye
b. good-by
c. goodbye
d. goodby


Answer: c, for AP style.

However, if you aren’t constrained by a style guide, you can probably get away with any variation you choose.

@EditorMark argues for saying goodbye to the hyphen and reports on various guides:

“The American Heritage and Webster’s New World dictionaries list goodbye as the first spelling. Bryan Garner in “Garner’s Modern American Usage,” compares the hyphenated form to the archaic “to-day.”

Merriam-Webster, though, includes only “good-bye” and “good-by.” Many style guides, including the Chicago Manual of Style, prefer a Merriam-Webster dictionary, so “good-bye” is with us for now.

The word in any form is only a few hundred years old, stemming from the earlier “good morning” and “good day,” etc., and a shortening of the phrase ‘God be with you.’”

**********

Ed Hurley reported that both hello and goodbye might be on the way out back in 2003:

Pretty soon “hello” and “goodbye” may become as passe as “ye” and “thou.”

Dig Deeper on Writing for Business

Networking
  • network scanning

    Network scanning is a procedure for identifying active devices on a network by employing a feature or features in the network ...

  • networking (computer)

    Networking, also known as computer networking, is the practice of transporting and exchanging data between nodes over a shared ...

  • What is SD-WAN (software-defined WAN)? Ultimate guide

    Software-defined WAN is a technology that uses software-defined networking concepts to distribute network traffic across a wide ...

Security
  • identity management (ID management)

    Identity management (ID management) is the organizational process for ensuring individuals have the appropriate access to ...

  • fraud detection

    Fraud detection is a set of activities undertaken to prevent money or property from being obtained through false pretenses.

  • single sign-on (SSO)

    Single sign-on (SSO) is a session and user authentication service that permits a user to use one set of login credentials -- for ...

CIO
  • IT budget

    IT budget is the amount of money spent on an organization's information technology systems and services. It includes compensation...

  • project scope

    Project scope is the part of project planning that involves determining and documenting a list of specific project goals, ...

  • core competencies

    For any organization, its core competencies refer to the capabilities, knowledge, skills and resources that constitute its '...

HRSoftware
  • recruitment

    Recruitment is the process of finding, screening, hiring and onboarding qualified job candidates.

  • Workday

    Workday is a cloud-based software vendor that specializes in human capital management (HCM) and financial management applications.

  • recruitment management system (RMS)

    A recruitment management system (RMS) is a set of tools designed to manage the employee recruiting and hiring process. It might ...

Customer Experience
  • martech (marketing technology)

    Martech (marketing technology) refers to the integration of software tools, platforms, and applications designed to streamline ...

  • transactional marketing

    Transactional marketing is a business strategy that focuses on single, point-of-sale transactions.

  • customer profiling

    Customer profiling is the detailed and systematic process of constructing a clear portrait of a company's ideal customer by ...

Close