A reporter asked people to describe the taste of Dr Pepper. He got some really creative answers.
An innocent tweet by sports reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques erupted into a great discussion where people tried to describe the indescribable. “There’s an unnamed media member in here who has never had a Dr. Pepper and asked what it tastes like,” he tweeted. “I have no idea how to describe it — how would y’all do…
An innocent tweet by sports reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques erupted into a great discussion where people tried to describe the indescribable. “There’s an unnamed media member in here who has never had a Dr. Pepper and asked what it tastes like,” he tweeted.
“I have no idea how to describe it — how would y’all do it?” he asked.
Marcel Louis-Jacques covers the Miami Dolphins for ESPN and appears on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, and more.
The question feels like a Zen koan such as “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” or “What do you call the world?”
There's an unnamed media member in here who has never had a Dr. Pepper and asked what it tastes like.
I have no idea how to describe it — how would y'all do it?— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) September 24, 2021
The taste of Dr Pepper is hard to describe because there’s nothing quite like it. It has a hint of cherry. Maybe a little licorice. There’s definitely some allspice in there. It’s tough to describe because it’s a combination of 23 different flavors.
It’s believed that the actual 23 flavors are a trade secret and the recipe is kept as two halves in safe deposit boxes in two separate Dallas banks.
It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas and was introduced nationally in the United States at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as a new kind of soda pop. Dr Pepper has been around for over 130 years and the flavor has yet to be duplicated. Mr. Pibb comes close, but it doesn’t quite have the same magic.
There are a lot of creative responses to the tweet with people doing their best to put flavor into words.
It's a Pepper spiced cola. You get an initial sugary/sweet taste with a pepper finish.
(Yes, I am a Dr.Pepper lifer)— Alfredo Arteaga (@Alf_Arteaga) September 24, 2021
The nectar of the gods.— Bruce Nolan (@BruceExclusive) September 24, 2021
it tastes like cigarettes and spice— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) September 24, 2021
Pepsi with a hint of prune juice— Burner Burnside (@BurnerBurnside) September 24, 2021
Like a coke or Pepsi with an infusion of the crispest Cherry you have had— MANIAC (@ZachSheldon) September 24, 2021
You know how Root Beer tastes different than cola? It's like that, but even differenter— Nick Van Wagenen (@MKEnick) September 24, 2021
If Cherry coke and Root beer had a lovechild— JawnOlerud (@JawnOlerud) September 24, 2021
Only one answer, barbecue water — Matt Webster (@Lets_go_webster) September 24, 2021
"The 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper are cola, cherry, licorice, amaretto, almond, vanilla, blackberry, apricot, caramel, pepper, anise, sarsaparilla, ginger, molasses, lemon, plum, orange, nutmeg, cardamon, all spice, coriander juniper, birch and prickly ash." — Jarret (@ADarkenedShroud) September 24, 2021
Evidently, there are a lot of people who can't stand the taste of Dr Pepper. It's kinda like black licorice or cilantro. You love it or you hate it.
I know this may get be blocked ?? but good for that person - it tastes awful ?— Michelle ?❤️? (@malden104) September 24, 2021
Agree with you 100%. Hands down the nastiest soda I've ever tasted in my life ??— Renaissance Man (@Billsfandiehard) September 24, 2021
If you’ve ever killed a palmetto bug…there’s a smell they have. Dr. Pepper tastes like that smell. It’s disgusting.— J Christensen-Sharpe (@Snowbird_Killer) September 24, 2021
My grandma describes it as tasting like the smell of ants when you smash them — Jeremy Sanders (@jeremy_lonavi) September 24, 2021
So, in the end, what does Dr Pepper taste like? The best answer should be: Dr Pepper. Much like how an orange has an orange flavor or a cherry has a cherry flavor. Dr pepper has a Dr Pepper flavor.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.
Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
A beachgoer couldn't be bothered by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's visit and the internet is absolutely obsessed with her: "The level of not giving a f* I dream of achieving."
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Bondi Beach on April 17, they were surrounded by the usual circus: paparazzi, crowds, bodyguards in matching uniforms, the whole production. One woman lay on her mat in the middle of it all, scribbling in her notebook, wearing sunglasses, and apparently not giving a single thought to any of it.
A TikTok clip posted by News.com.au captured the moment as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex walked the beach during the final day of their Australian tour. Their entourage had to navigate around her. She did not look up. The royal couple’s eyes tracked her as they passed. She continued writing.
News.com.au summed it up in their caption: “One woman’s complete indifference is peak Bondi attitude.”
The internet agreed enthusiastically. “The level of not giving a f* I dream of achieving,” one commenter wrote. “Peak unbothered,” said another. “Well done to that lady for not giving a damn,” a Facebook commenter added.
The coda that made the story perfect: a TikTok commenter recognized the woman as her sister and revealed she thought the crowd had gathered around an actor.
Aerial view of Bondi Beach in Australia. Photo credit: Canva
The visit itself was a quieter affair than Harry and Meghan’s 2018 Australian tour, when they were still working royals and the reception was considerably more ceremonial.
This trip included stops to support volunteer first responders at the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club, a Masterchef Australia appearance, and promotion of Meghan’s As Ever lifestyle brand. The Guardian described it as less a royal tour than something else entirely. One woman on a beach mat seems to have agreed.
Robin Williams wrote a letter to the principal who expelled his 15-year-old co-star during Mrs. Doubtfire. The principal framed it. And still didn't let her back in.
She’d been a 9th grader at a Canadian school when production started. With no internet to submit work digitally, she’d set up a system to mail her assignments back and forth. It worked … until it didn’t. A few months in, the school decided the arrangement wasn’t working for them, and Jakub was out.
At 15, she was devastated. Robin Williams noticed she was upset, and did what Robin Williams apparently just did: he wrote a letter to the principal asking them to support her education and her career.
Jakub shared the story during a Mrs. Doubtfire cast reunion on the Brotherly Love podcast, and the punchline is perfect: “The principal got the letter, framed the letter, put it up in the office, and didn’t ask me to come back.”
She got into the University of Virginia anyway. When she did, a teaching assistant handed back a statistics assignment with the note: “Dear Doubtfire Girl, you got a B-.”
What she also got, from her time on set with Williams, was something harder to grade. She described working with him as a crash course in presence and spontaneity, which was a total departure from the scripted rhythms she’d learned as a child actor. “We had always used a script, so I knew when it was my turn to speak, I could say my line. Then you go on set with Robin, and it’s like, who the f*ck knows what’s going to happen now?”
He also later wrote her a recommendation letter for college. The school never did ask her back. She turned out fine.
During a shift in late January, an elderly woman came through his checkout line and her card kept declining. The line grew restless. Cabahug walked around the register and paid her $80 grocery bill himself. Then he went back to work.
Another customer in line, a mom of four named Dani Dircks, watched the whole thing happen, as reported by WCCO. “I watched this cashier, knowing nothing about him, walk around, knowing nothing about that lady, and he didn’t care,” she said. “He didn’t care in that moment who she was, who she loved, who she voted for.”
A young cashier rings up an item at the store. Photo credit: Canva
Dircks wanted to do something. She learned Cabahug was saving for a car, planned to help his family buy a house after graduation, and intended to become a nurse. A leg injury had ended his volleyball career, and he’d redirected his ambitions toward healthcare. She started a GoFundMe. It has raised over $12,000 toward a $14,000 goal.
Cabahug didn’t pay $80 expecting anything back. He paid it because that’s apparently just who he is. The rest took care of itself.
Ever look at your parents’ high schoolyearbooks and think people looked so much older back then? All of the teenagers look like they’re in their mid-30s and the teachers who are 50 look like they’re 80. When we watch older movies, even those from the 1980s, the teenagers appear to be a lot older as well. Why is it that they looked so much older? Was life harder? Did people act more mature? Did they spend more time outdoors and less time playing video games? Is it their sense of fashion? Were they all smokers?
Educator Michael Stevens, who runs the super-popular Vsauce YouTube channel, explains the phenomenon in a video called, “Did people used to look older?” In it, he explains that people in the past appear a lot older due to retrospective aging.
What is retrospective aging?
This is how it works: when we see people in the past, they are wearing outdated styles that we associate with older people; therefore, we think they have aged rapidly. For example, a teenager in the 1950s may have been in fashion while wearing thick Buddy Holly-style glasses.
But as people age, they tend to cling to the fashion of their youth. So many people of that generation continued to wear the Buddy Holly-style glasses into their 50s. So when younger people see those glasses they see them as old people’s glasses and not a hip kid from the ’50s.
So in the photo from the ’50s, the teen appears to look a lot older because our perspective has been tainted by time.
But it isn’t all just an illusion. Stevens also points out that people did age faster back in the day due to differences in nutrition, lifestyle and medicine. In addition, he also does a deep dive on how a person’s name can affect their appearance, referencing the Dorian Gray effect, which theorizes that cultural stereotypes linked to a name come to be written on the faces of their bearers, as well as the name matching effect, in which people whose faces “match” their names tend to be better perceived.
Why do young people today look younger than previous generations?
It might be worth noting that, in addition to healthier lifestyle options, younger generations have more access to anti-aging procedures than ever before. “Tweakments,” like fillers and botox, are less expensive and more readily available than ever, not to mention every anti-aging cream, serum, and cleanser known to man. And many millennials and Gen Zers take advantage of that, whether prompted by selfie anxiety, a growing obsession with youth, or some other motivation.
Plus, millennial and Gen Z fashion often honors their inner child. Nostalgic cartoon tees, colorful prints, cutesy accessories, etc. Granted, under the retrospective aging theory, even those styles could one day look dated, but they are so youthful that it’s hard to imagine that being the case. That said, can’t wait to see a bunch of geezers sporting those broccoli haircuts.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
In 2000’s Miss Congeniality, Sandra Bullock’s character goes undercover as an FBI agent posing as a contestant in a beauty pageant. One of the film’s most memorable lines comes when the pageant host, portrayed by William Shatner, asks Miss Rhode Island to describe her “perfect date.”
Shatner’s character is beside himself when Miss Rhode Island, played by Heather Burns, describes her perfect calendar date instead of a romantic rendezvous. “I’d have to say April 25th because it’s not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket,” she responds.
Since the movie’s release, April 25 has become known in some circles as “Miss Congeniality Day,” a pop-culture holiday celebrating the amazing spring weather.
Does April 25 have the best weather of the year?
However, does April 25 really have the best weather of any day of the year? Is it the day when the Earth is at the perfect distance from the sun so it’s not too hot and not too cold? The meteorology team at WeatherBug, a people-first forecasting app, analyzed U.S. weather patterns from 2018 to the present day and found that, unfortunately for Miss Rhode Island, April 25 isn’t even close to the best day of the year.
The WeatherBug team discovered that October 8 is “The Perfect Date,” claiming that it “most consistently delivers the ideal combination of comfortable temperatures and minimal rainfall across the country.” October 8 is the strongest contender for the “Perfect Date” title because it consistently delivers the lowest amount of rainfall, just 0.0573 inches, and a comfortable average temperature of 66°F.
April 25 ranks 80th, with 0.1297 inches of rain and an average temperature of 60°F. Over the past eight years, the best day for weather in America was May 9, 2022. There was virtually no rain and an average temperature of 68°F nationwide.
“Through years of daily weather pattern monitoring and weighing precipitation amounts by population size through WeatherBug’s extensive database of active users, we’ve determined April 25th might hold a special place in pop culture, but the date actually ranks 80th measured against the 365 days of the year,” Brittney Gomez, a meteorologist at WeatherBug, said in a statement. “April 25th saw an average of 0.1297 inches of precipitation in the past 8 years, with an average temperature of 60°F. So, while it might not be the ‘perfect date,’ April 25th is still ‘light jacket’ friendly.”
What are the hottest and coldest days of the year?
The team also found that the hottest day of the year is July 14, reaching a nationwide average of 81°F, and that January 20 is the coldest, averaging just 33°F.
When most people hear that April 25 is the nicest day of the year, they probably take it at face value. It’s a nice spring day—who’s gonna challenge the idea? However, the opinion is coming from Miss Rhode Island, a woman who misunderstood a very basic question at a beauty pageant. While we all nodded our heads in agreement, we never considered the source of the information. So, good on WeatherBug for challenging the status quo and giving us a reason to look forward to early October.
Each generation has its own unique quirks that mark the times in which its members grew up. Often, people belonging to those generations don’t fully recognize their own idiosyncrasies. But once they’re pointed out, you can’t unsee them. Way Back Americana shares a list of subtle habits that signal you were a ’70s child.
Adults who grew up in the ’70s are solidly Gen X, and aside from being known as the “Forgotten Generation,” a few habits might give away their age. It’s likely not what you think, either. Repetitive directives given during childhood often define automatic behaviors that we carry into adulthood. Rinsing a dish before use, even when it’s clean, is one example, but Gen X has a few that are unique to its generation.
Pausing to listen before entering a room doesn’t always mean someone’s being nosy. This is a leftover habit of people who grew up in the ’70s, likely due to stricter social rules around children being present during adult conversations. Children were still encouraged to be quiet and unobtrusive when inside the house, especially in the presence of adults who didn’t live with them.
Silence is suspicious
If you’ve had a parent burst into your room unannounced and look around suspiciously, chances are they grew up in the ’70s or before. Silence is suspicious to them. It can feel like something is missing. The Way Back AmericanaYouTube channel explains that there was always some quiet commotion or background noise in a room during the ’70s. The absence of noise can be unsettling to some.
Turning off the lights is something that seems helpful. It conserves energy and reduces your power bill, but this helpful habit is so reflexive that it happens without thinking. Someone could be sitting in the room reading a book when it’s abruptly interrupted by the light being turned off.
In the ’70s, lightbulbs didn’t last as long as they do now, so kids were constantly reminded to turn off lights. “Lights weren’t left on unnecessarily, and it wasn’t framed as a suggestion. It was just how things were done. Over time, that simple action became instinct, and now it happens without effort. Like a small rule that never stopped applying,” Way Back Americana says.
Saving things “just in case”
Keeping things like containers, gift bags, grocery bags, or other random items in case you need to repurpose them later. “This comes from growing up in a time when replacing things wasn’t always easy or immediate, and there was value in holding onto something that could serve a purpose again,” Way Back Americana explains.
“Hey that’s my spot”
According to the channel, this habit goes back to a time when certain chairs belonged to certain people. Seating wasn’t random in many households. The adults had their preferred seats, and the children filled in where they could and stayed there. Essentially, everyone subconsciously had assigned seats, which is still something that may be familiar to today’s households.
Boundaries around time
When an event is about to end, “You instinctively start wrapping things up without needing to be told. There’s no urge to push past it or stretch it out longer than it’s meant to last,” Way Back Americana shares. “‘Cause you’re used to the idea that when something closes, it closes. That understanding was built early, when schedules were still fixed and expectations were clear, and it created a natural respect for boundaries that still shows up today in how you handle time.”
Noticing when things are slightly out of place is also a marker of the ’70s. Even if it’s a table moved an inch to the left, your brain picks up on it quickly. This is likely due to things having designated places when growing up, which allowed for structure in the house, according to the channel.
Pausing before leaving the house
This small reset helps you mark the shift between two different environments. Way Back Americana explains, “Growing up, leaving the house wasn’t rushed, and that sense of transition became part of the experience. Even now, that pause remains. Subtle, but consistent. Like a quiet habit that signals you’re about to go somewhere else.”
It’s not easy to get a classroom full of wiggly, goofball five- and six-year-olds to sit through an entire day of instruction in kindergarten. Teachers have to utilize structure, routine, and just the right pacing to keep things moving. They also have to know when to dial things back and let the kids do what comes naturally: be silly.
The best educators have a lot of tricks up their sleeve when it comes to getting kids to laugh, move their bodies, and be ready to focus again on the next assignment. But one teacher recently came up with a funny idea that really seemed to stick.
Teacher attempts hilarious experiment
Teacher Jordan Lake, a popular creator on Instagram and fifth year kindergarten teacher, recently took to social media to share the results of a fun experiment he did with his students.
“Letting students change their name for the day because they’re only young once,” he titled the Reel. In it, he’s seen sitting at a desk with a stack of “Hello My Name Is” stickers and a sharpie, bracing himself for the worst.
In the original clip, which has racked up over seven million views, he addresses a student who’s off camera:
“What do you want your name to be for the rest of the day?” Lake asks.
“Marshmallow,” the child answers without a single beat of hesitation.
“Uh, Ochy,” the next student says, barely holding in a giggle. “I was thinking in my head, I think Ochy is the perfect name.”
“I love that,” Lake says. “Do you know what it means, or it just sounds cute?”
“Mmm, I don’t know,” the student says, seemingly having pulled the name completely out of left field.
“Nice to meet you, Ochy,” Lake says as he hands over the brand new name tag.
Watch the whole adorable interaction in the viral clip here:
Thousands chimed in with a single sentiment: The kids will remember this day for a long time
Perceptive viewers realized what’s not necessarily obvious in the clip. Whether the kids picked silly, made-up, or mundane names, being able to choose for themselves and build a new temporary identity for the day was a joy they won’t forget anytime soon:
“Love this! We used to do this at our nursery school. So empowering! “
“Thanks for the idea. I did this the day before spring break with 3rd-5th graders. They loved it!”
“My 1st grade teacher and all of the class called me Baby Spice for the entire year … it was AWESOME!!!!! I wrote that name on all my tests or assignments. I will never forget Mr. Schmitty for this.”
“They get to be creative AND get a little secret spelling AND reading lesson?!”
“We all deserve this level of Whimsy”
“We all needed a teacher like you”
“I still remember the day we did this in second grade
“Im a speech therapist who LOVES this for more than just for its cuteness for which it exceeds the highest level. It also give kids a chance to step into a new identity for the day. I’d ask each kid what their new personas personality is like and what’s they’re strengths are too.”
“I have a daughter whose kinder teacher was willing to call her ‘strawberry fields’ for an entire school year. I still love that teacher.”
Lake later posted the full video, covering each kid in his class, and revealed the delightfully unhinged final roster:
Even tiny, silly amounts of independence for kids make a big difference
One commenter recalled being allowed to pick a new name for herself as a kid while on a family vacation. It turned a run-of-the-mill trip to the beach into an unforgettable experience that has stayed with her into adulthood.
Why is that?
Research shows that agency, even the tiniest amounts of independence, are deeply meaningful to young children. In fact, it’s something they crave—”I can do it myself!”
Experts say allowing kids, even young children, more autonomy does wonders for their brain and self-esteem. It improves their confidence, allows them to develop critical thinking, and is crucial in their journey to form their own identity. In a school setting, autonomy, choice, and independence allow them to be far more engaged in learning tasks, which explains why it worked so well for Lake.
And our names? Well, we can pick our clothes, tie our shoes, and decide what we’re having for lunch; but names are forever. Being tasked with the gigantic responsibility of choosing a new name, a new persona—even a temporary one–is the ultimate act of agency for a kid of kindergarten age.
Having their teacher call them “Marshmallow” or “Jorbee” (because they want to be a bee and sting their brother, obviously) goes so much deeper than just the giggles. Based on all the adults chiming in on Lake’s video, it’s a safe bet that he will be one of those kid’s all-time favorite teachers. And they’ll always have fond memories of the day they got to choose exactly who they wanted to be.
Goodbye. It’s a word so many of us use daily. Some shorten it and simply say, “Bye!” If you’re a toddler, you might say, “Bye bye.” If you’re from the South, you may say, “Bah.” But have you ever stopped to think where the word came from?
A clip from the podcast The Rest is Science, co-hosted by Hannah Fry (a British mathematician) and Michael Stevens (an educator), has been making the rounds on Facebook. Fry explains how the word gently morphed from a completely different phrase in the 1600s.
Across many languages
Fry shares the etymology, saying, “The 1600s is the exact century when the parting blessing ‘God be with ye’ was so said so rapidly and often as phatic communion that it permanently mashed together into ‘God b’wy’ and eventually ‘goodbye.’”
What is of equal fascination (at least for linguist-lovers) is that this seems to be common among many languages, not just English. A commenter shares the Spanish and French equivalents, writing, “Adios from phrase (a Dios vais), meaning ‘I entrust you to God,’ and adieu from phrase ‘a dieu vous commant,’ meaning ‘I command you to God,’ are both formal farewells.”
Another adds that Croatians have a similar term. “In Croatian, you can say ‘zbogom,’ which translates to ‘with God’ or ‘go with God.’”
John Howarth (@Johnsenglishpage) shares the same knowledge in an Instagram Reel and specifically asks commenters to share versions in other languages. One writes, “Yes. In Brazilian Portuguese we say ‘Vai com Deus,’ which translating word by word would be ‘May God go with you,’ which means ‘God be with you.’”
Germany enters the chat with one commenter writing, “In southern Germany, or more specifically in Bavaria, we say ‘Pfia God’ (also Pfiad di God). This is a warm, traditional Bavarian farewell greeting that literally means ‘May God protect you.’”
Russians have their own version. “Thank you in Russian is spasibo which is a shortened spasi bog meaning ‘god save you.’ Every time we say thanks we (are) actually wishing each other to be saved by God,” writes another commenter.
And it’s not just ‘goodbye’
Upworthy spoke with Spanish language expert Jennifer Jin, who doubles down on the similarity that’s often seen among cultures. “You see something similar in Spanish with the word ‘adiós,’ which can be broken down into two Spanish words: a (to) + dios (God). This is similar to English phrases like ‘go with God’ or ‘I commend you to God,’ showing how similar these farewells are across languages and cultures.”
She also shares that some common sayings are less obvious than others. “There are other common phrases in English and Spanish, like ‘¡Dios mío!’ (My God!) or ‘gracias a Dios’ (thank God) that are more obviously linked to religion, whereas in ‘goodbye’ it’s a more hidden connection.”
Why it possibly became ‘good’
In a 2016 piece for Columbia Journalism Review further exploring the origin of the word morphing, former New York Times copy editor Merrill Pearlman writes, “The Oxford English Dictionary traces it to the 16th century and says our current ‘goodbye’ was formed partly by clipping or shortening ‘Godbewithyou,’ where people speak hastily or in shorthand, and partly by compounding, the practice of combining two or more words into one. ‘God’ may also have become ‘good’ because it seemed to go with other expressions like ‘good morning’ and ‘good night.’ And we do like some consistency in our language.”
If one goes further back in time, they can find partings that don’t have the religious affiliation. “You can, of course, say ‘farewell,’ shortened for ‘fare thee well.’ These are among the oldest parting words in the English language; the OED traces the phrase to the late 14th century.”
