Grüß Gott

Grüß Gott (German pronunciation: [ɡʁyːs ˈɡɔt]; literally '(may) God greet (you)') is a greeting, less often a farewell, in the Upper German Sprachraum especially in Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia, Austria and South Tyrol.

The greeting was publicized in the 19th century by the Catholic clergy and along with its variants has long been the most common greeting form in Southern Germany and Austria. The salutation often 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 the shortened form of both (Es) Grüße dich Gott and its plural (Es) Grüße euch Gott ('may God greet you'). The verb grüßen originally had a meaning similar to segnen ('to bless'), although it now means 'to greet'. The essential meaning of grüß (dich) Gott is therefore 'God bless you'. Such a religious expression in a greeting only exists in a few countries. For example, people wish one another a simple 'good day' in Poland (dzień dobry), Spain (buenos días), and Portugal (bom dia), while in Gaelic-speaking Ireland the popular greeting is Dia dhuit ('God with you'), similar to the English goodbye, a contraction of God be with ye; today, goodbye has a less obviously religious meaning. Also similar to the 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 use the form "Jumalan terve" (greet God).