Why do some person use the Italian word CIAO as goodbye when it means HELLO when translated into English?

Question

arrivederci means goodbye. could there be other meaning of ciao...

Answer 1

To say "ciao" MEANS "hello" as if it were the exact equivalent is imprecise and that appears to have misled you. It is more accurate to say it "means 'hello'" ONLY in the sense that it CAN be used to GREET someone in the same way as "hello" can. (That is, it can be used in the same way as "hello" is used, but that does not mean the word itself strictly MEANS "hello".) But it also can be used as a word of PARTING, much as "goodbye" is used in English.

This should not be surprising. It is not at all uncommon for the same expression to be used both as a word of greeting and as a word of parting.

Examples: 'aloha' (Hawaiian), 'shalom' (Hebrew) and its English equivalent 'peace', 'servus' (Austrian German)

In fact, "good bye" ORIGINALLY functioned as both. The expression was "God be with ye!" which could be used to greet or to send off. Similarly, "good day/evening/afternoon", though most often now used to greet, are used (esp. in more formal contexts) when taking one's leave (think Dickens).

Note that the basic meanings of all of these 'two-way' forms are just as suitable for parting as for greeting. On the other hand some forms can only work one way -- e.g., "aufwiedersehen", "so long", "au revoir", "have a nice day", etc., specifically speak about parting (often by looking forward to meeting again).

"ciao" likewise can work both ways. The word is a variation on the word "schiavo", meaning "slave", and comes from an abbreviation of the expression "schiavo suo", that is, "your slave ['servant']". Compare English "(I am) at your service" and the Austrian "servus!" (="servant"), all originally polite, formal expressions of deference, though "ciao" and "servus" have lost that particular deferential flavor (as is common with brief terms whose original meaning may not even be known to the speakers).

Answer 2

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RE:
Why do some person use the Italian word CIAO as goodbye when it means HELLO when translated into English?
arrivederci means goodbye. could there be other meaning of ciao...

Answer 3

Hello Italian

Answer 4

The word ciao (pronounced somewhat like chow, and occasionally misspelled as such) is an informal verbal salutation or greeting, meaning "goodbye" or (more rarely) "hello".

Originally from the Venetian language, it was adopted by Italian and eventually entered the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world. Presently, the word is mostly used as "goodbye" in English, but in other languages it may mean "hello", "goodbye", or both.

Answer 5

Ciao means hello OR goodbye in both italian and sicilian my friend

Answer 6

ciao:
Principal Translations/Traduzioni principali:
ciao (arrivando) informale interj hello (hullo, greeting)
ciao (arrivederci) informale interj bye-bye

Aloha

Answer 7

Actually you can use Ciao as hello or goodbye...

Answer 8

If you look in an Italian dictionary, you find that "ciao" is slang for hi and for bye.

Answer 9

I thought ciao meant both but it still makes me laugh because it just sounds funny to use it as bye when arrivederci is more practical (to me anyway)

Answer 10

I think it's similar to "aloha" and means hello and goodbye.