Grüß Gott

The expression grüß Gott (; from ''grüß dich Gott'', originally '(may) God bless (you)')Hans Ulrich Schmid
Bairisch: Das Wichtigste in Kürze
(in German) is a greeting, less often a farewell, in Southern Germany and Austria (more specifically the Upper German Sprachraum, especially in Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia, Austria, and South Tyrol).

German-language use

The greeting, along with its variants, has long been the most common greeting in Southern Germany and Austria, with an epicenter in Schwaben, more than Baden or Bavaria.

It is sometimes misunderstood by speakers from other regions to mean the imperative ''greet God(!)'' and therefore sometimes receives a sarcastic response from Northern (and thus mainly Protestant) Germans, such as "If I see Him" (''Wenn ich Ihn sehe'') or "Hopefully not too soon" (''Hoffentlich nicht so bald''). ''Grüß Gott'' is, however, the shortened form of both ''(es) grüße dich Gott'' and its plural ''(es) grüße euch Gott'' "may God greet you". In addition, in Middle High German, the verb ''grüßen'' (''grüezen'') is used to mean not only "to greet" but also "to bless", so the greeting in fact preserves the original meaning "God bless you", though even speakers in Southern Germany and Austria are only very rarely aware of this and think it means "may God greet you". It is not equivalent to the English usage of "God bless you".

Like many other greetings, ''grüß Gott'' can range in meaning from deeply emotional to casual or perfunctory. The greeting's pronunciation varies with the region, with, for example, ''grüß dich'' sometimes shortened to ''grüß di'' (the variation ''grüß di Gott'' may be heard in some places). In Bavaria and Austria ''griaß di'' and ''griaß eich'' are commonly heard, although their Standard German equivalents are not uncommon either. In Switzerland, ''grüezi'' is a common greeting also descended from this phrase. A common farewell analogous to ''grüß Gott'' is ''pfiat' di Gott'', a contraction of "behüte dich Gott" ('God protect you'), which itself is not common at all. This is likewise shortened this to ''pfiat' di/eich'' or, if the person is addressed formally ''pfia Gott'' in Altbayern, Austria, and South Tyrol (Italy).

In its standard German form, ''grüß Gott'' is mostly stressed on the second word and in many places is used not only in everyday life, but is also common in the official communications of the aforementioned states. Use of the greeting ''guten Tag'' ('good day') is less prevalent, but there are those who dislike ''grüß Gott'' on account of its religious nature. In Bavaria, ''guten Tag'' is considered prim and distant and sometimes leads to misunderstandings.

Comparison with greetings of religious origin in other languages

Other languages also include greetings based on Christian religious terms:
* In Irish, the popular greeting is ''Dia dhuit'' (singular) or ''Dia dhaoibh'' (plural, meaning "God with you" in both cases), similar to the English "goodbye", a contraction of ''God be with ye''; today, "goodbye" has a less obviously religious meaning.
* Catalan formal expression ''adéu-siau'' ("be with God", in archaic Catalan)
* A religious origin is still obvious in French ''adieu'', Spanish ''adiós'', Italian ''addio'', Portuguese ''adeus'', and Catalan ''adéu'' ("to God", probably a contraction of "I entrust you to God")
* In Finland, a religious group named Laestadians uses the form ''Jumalan terve'' ("God's greeting").
* In Brazil (Portuguese) the very direct forms ''fique com Deus'' ("stay with God") and ''vai com Deus'' ("go with God") is very common today.
* In Croatian, there is an informal greeting of simply ''Bog!'' ("God!"). This is probably a shortened form of the expression ''Bog daj'' " etGod give", which has become less common.
* In Croatian and Bulgarian, there is a more formal parting greeting of ''Zbogom'' or ('' dis Bogom'', " owith God").
* In Czech, ''zdař Bůh'' (literal Czech translation of ''grüß Gott''), sometimes simplified as ''zdařbůh'' or ''zdařbů'', acts as a historical greeting; its contemporary use is limited to miners.
* In Slovak, ''zdar Boh!'' (the literal Slovak translation of ''grüß Gott'') is used as the traditional greeting of miners. An inscription of ''Zdar Boh!'' can be seen on many mine entrances, monuments or logos.
* In Romania, the greeting ''Doamne ajută'', which means "God helps" or "God bless", is often used. On Romanian mine entrances the traditional salute ''Noroc bun!'' is posted (compare the German counterpart ''Glück auf!'').
* In Arabic, the term ''حياك الله'' (''Hayyak Allah'' "May God greet you") is a common greeting. In Levantine Arabic, a common way to say farewell is ''الله معك'' (''Alla ma'aak'') "Godspeed".

See also

* Greetings
* Moin
* Servus

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruss Gott
German words and phrases
Greeting words and phrases