Saying Goodbye... По-русски

I haven't done a Russian blog post in quite a while, so today we're going to talk about how to say "Goodbye" in Russian.  This is important, because, well, words mean things.

Even in Russian.

When you're saying goodbye to someone, the terms you use convey specific meanings.  Saying a full goodbye in English tends to have a definitive connotation, and is often used in a less-than-positive light.

The shorter and much more common use is a simple 'bye.  This is fairly universal and the connotations of its use depend completely on context, intonation and non-verbal cues.

Other phrases, like "See you later," or it's short form of "Later," and any of the myriad variations are generally positive and often used with familiarity, or even sincerity.  If you aren't actually going to see that person later, then you are expressing the desire nonetheless.

In Russian, you say До свидания (Do sviDAnya).  This literally means until our next meeting, but is used as good bye.  However, it does not carry the finality that the English good bye does, and is used commonly, especially in formal or unfamiliar settings.

The much more formal and temporary parting is Пока! (PokA).  This literally means "until", but comes from the concept of пока не увидимся, or until we meet again.  This is used among friends and in familiar and informal situations.  Akin to English 'bye.

Пока!

The last part of the long form above, Увидимся (ooVEEdemsya), is the Russian equivalent of "see you later."  Literally it means we'll see each other (Verb, conjugated for we, with reflexive ending).  The response can either be a a repeat Увидимся or a Пока, which carries essentially the same meaning.

Увидимся с электричкой

To say one's goodbyes would be Прощаться (proschATsya), or попрощаться (poproschATsya).  So, if you wanted to say, "tomorrow we'll say our goodbyes" it would be Завтра мы попрощаемся.

Тяжолое прощание...

Удачи!