Zbohom

[Dennis Ragan]

No, I'm NOT saying goodbye to the group. I have some questions about this farewell term, "zbohom."  For years I've had the spelling as s' Bohom, which to my understanding means to "Go with God."  I was just questioned about the meaning of the apostrophe in the expression, and I had no answer to the question.  It was just the version I somehow obtained along the way in my study of Slovak over the years.  

In researching this today on the internet, I instead found numerous references to "s Bohom," "z Bohom" and "zbohom" -- but just one mention of s' Bohom."  I was talking to a Slovak friend on Skype today and she said that to her knowledge there is no apostrophe used in writing the expression.  

She also told me that it actually has a different implied meaning that "dovidenia," that zbohom or s Bohom is more a final farewell, said to someone you would not expect to see again, whereas "dovidenia" (which I do understand to mean something like 'until I see you again') is a temporary expression of farewell -- because you do expect to see the person again.

I'm curious if the Slovaks actually do use zbohom for a something so specific as a "last farewell."  I've been using it occasionally for years, with full expectations of again seeing the person I was saying goodbye to.

Dennis            

[Ben Gmail]

It can, in context, also be something like "well then!" (No, zbohom!) if you want to express surprise or even incredulousness. 

It is also like the final goodbye. Isn't Slovak fun?

Ben

Sent from my iPhone

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[Helen Fedor]

Ben,

I've never heard of using it as an expression of surprise.  I learn something new every day.

As for it having the meaning of a final good-bye, when I was growing up on the south side of Chicago (and having many family friends just across the state line in NW Indiana), it simply meant good-bye, with no time or other implications, i.e., it was the basic, 'unmarked' (and only) form.  The other term would have been "do vidzenia" in our dialect, and I don't recall ever hearing or using that.

I suspect that the apostrophe was something added here in the US.  To a speaker of English (who also knew Slovak, but not at a native level), having a word that consisted of a single consonant ("s") seemed nonsensical.  Obviously something must be missing, which in English is marked by an apostrophe.

H

[John Šofranko]

When I was growing up, the final good bye or good night of the day was spanom bohom, although I'm uncertain of the actual spelling. Maybe the baba's and zeda's were just saying it too fast and it got shortened by following generations that weren't sure of the spelling. 

John

[BJ...@aol.com]

Helen, your message brings back memories. I, too, grew up in Chicago (Lawndale-Crawford area) and s Bohom was my family's way of saying farewell whenever they took leave of someone they cherished (although I do remember sometimes hearing it at funeral services as well). As a youngster, I was taught a few formal Slovak lessons at my church, where it was emphasized that Boh was always spelled with a capital.

 

Its always such a pleasure to see your comments.

 

B, J.

 

___________________________________________
B. J. Licko-Keel (BJ...@aol.com)

[Martin]

the apostrophe was something added here in the US.  To a speaker of English (who also knew Slovak, but not at a native level), having a word that consisted of a single consonant ("s") seemed nonsensical.  Obviously something must be missing, which in English is marked by an apostrophe.

A great explanation, Helen. It must have been that. Slovak does not use the apotrophe (what looks like one to English speakers, ď, ľ, ť, is a "softening mark" to the Slovaks, handwritten the same way as the :softening marks on, e.g., č, ň, and having the appearance of apostrophes only in print, which -- curiously enough -- the Slovaks aren't aware of. In their minds, a printed -č- and a printed -ď- have the same mark on them.

if the Slovaks actually do use zbohom for a something so specific as a "last farewell."

It is an increasingly uncommon parting greeting, Dennis. Dovidenia, "till seeing [you again]," which is from the German Auf Wiedersehen with the same meaning, is the usual parting greeting now. But, due to its meaning, it cannot be used when you're really not going to see the person again (saying "Good bye" to a deceased person at a funeral). That's when Zbohom is the only good-bye word to use. By default, it is also the word to use in case you wanted to tell someone you don't want to see them again, like "I never want to see you again." It can carry that meaning thanks to the prevalence of and in contrast with the meaning of "See you again" contained in Dovidenia.


Yes, BJLK, it does come from "with God," and yes, the word Boh is capitalized in the sense of "God worshiped by the Christians" like in English, but just like the English goodbye comes from "God be with you," but has lost its meaning and capitalization, so did its Slovak counterpart zbohom.

As you say, John, it can occur as "S pánom Bohom," representing the expanded "with God, the Lord."

[Regina Haring]

If I wanted to refer to my grandmother by name I would say "Baba Kraynak" for example - and yet in a letter she didn't capitalize "baba" even when used with a surname. Was this a goof on her part, or isn't it necessary to capitalize baba and dzeda - unlike Boh.

Regina Rabatin Haring

[Martin]

she didn't capitalize "baba" even when used with a surname

Slovak has no rampant capitalization like English (whose manuals of style have actually been reducing the frequency of capitalization in recent decades). Mother, father, grandma, grandpa... are not names, so they are never capitalized in Slovak (unless they start a sentence, of course).

There are tons of other instances when English capitalizes but Slovak doesn't: titles, e.g., Mr./Mrs -- pán Kováč, pani Kováčová; Dr. -- dr. Kováč/Kováčová; Prof. -- prof. Kováč/Kováčová; President -- prezident Donald Trump; trade marks -- volkswagen, toyota (although advertisers capitalize in their paid copy); names of institutions -- only the first letter is capitalized (unless a word "inside" happens to be a name too), e.g., Slovenská autobusová doprava (Slovak Bus Transport); names of institutions are not capitalized unless they are given in full, e.g., Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky (Ministry/Department of Defense of the Slovak Republic), but ministerstvo obrany (Ministry/Department of Defense) even if the reference is to the Slovak ministry of defense; etc.

BTW, baba is often a crude word in contemporary Slovak ("old hag," or, paradoxically, "chick" in man talk). The common words for grandmother are stará mama, starká, babka, babička, babina...

[Regina Haring]

Thank you so much for the clarification! I haven't had a grandmother for quite a while,

but "babic'ka" sounds so endearing - that's what I'd call her. I apologize for the lack of

proper accent marks.

Regina Rabatin Haring

On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 9:10 PM, Martin <m.r.v...@gmail.com> wrote:

she didn't capitalize "baba" even when used with a surname

Slovak has no rampant capitalization like English (whose manuals of style have actually been reducing the frequency of capitalization in recent decades). Mother, father, grandma, grandpa... are not names, so they are never capitalized in Slovak (unless they start a sentence, of course).

BTW, baba is often a crude word in contemporary Slovak ("old hag," or, paradoxically, "chick" in man talk). The common words for grandmother are stará mama, starká, babka, babička, babina...

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