Quote:
Originally Posted by Christoferus
Everyone knows that "adiós" means "goodbye", but I also found the word "chau" that apparently is an informal alternative for saying "adiós". I've never heard this as a way of saying "goodbye" in Spanish before. My question is, which one is more commonly used? And where in the world is the word "chau" used?
One more thing, I've seen "chau" spelled as "chao". Which spelling is correct?
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It comes from the Italian wordciao which is used as a greeting as well as
a good-by. The Spanish version is
chao, and it is different from its Italian
cognate in that it means good-by only. Ciao in English is used too, and, like the Spanish version, it means good-by.
Chao may be understood throughout the Spanish-speaking world, but people in some countries like Argentina and Colombia use it more frequently. Sometimes the use of
chao may help you hone in on where the speaker comes from. For example, someone from Cartagena may sound Cuban to a less-trained ear, but if they say chao it may rule out that they are Cuban or Dominican, and assume they are Colombian.