So Long

Posted by ESC on March 10, 2000

In Reply to: So Long posted by Bobby on March 09, 2000

: I have never found the root of the Phrase" So Long "... can you help ?

: Thanks

SO LONG -- "Some of the wordbooks expound a theory that 'So long' is formed by folk etymology from 'Salaam,' an Arabic greeting related to the Hebrew 'Shalom,' 'peace.' This seems to us wildly far of the mark. For one thing, 'So long' is not a greeting but a farewell. For another, it's scarcely likely that even a handful of Yankees would know and use 'Shalom' in talking to each other. But as an abbreviation for some expression as, 'Don't let it be 'so long' until we meet again,' it makes perfectly good sense." From Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1988).