Bye bye... Jalan Baik-baik

The common "Bye-bye" most likely has Malay origins.

When I was much younger I remember people in Malaysia and I think parts of original Melayu-speaking Indonesia used to part company by the greeting "Jalan baik-baik" ("Go carefully") or equally shortened to "Baik-baik" ("Be careful"), or else this was the reply given to the one left behind.

That was between people who meet fairly often. For the occasional long-term parting or going away on a long journey, "Selamat Jalan" ("Bon Voyage") would be more appropriate, and the match is "Selamat Tinggal" ("Safe Remaining") for those left behind.

In the olden days when infrastructure was basic and there were many natural dangers in going from one place to another, the safety greetings especially "Baik-baik" made polite sense as a departing salutation.

But as infrastructure and general security improved in the region, and more so the rise in Islamic awareness, the "Baik-baik" greeting became less heard and was widely replaced by the standard Islamic greeting in Arabic, "Assalamualaikum..." with its reply "Alaikumsalam...". This was used for both meeting and parting in the Malay World. In some other Muslim societies such as in Turkey and Iran, the "Salam" was only for meeting, whereas a local greeting such as "Allahaiesmarladuk" in Turkish/Turkey was used.

Anyway, back to "Baik-baik". An old British historian I met once speculated that the English "Bye bye" may have actually descended from "Baik-baik". After all, it was simple to say and also meaningful and so could have influenced the British when the Brits first heard it in the Malay World upon taking over Semenanjung Tanah Melayu or the Malay Archipelago; beginning with Penang in 1786AD, a Malay island long inhabited by Bahasa Melayu-speaking people.

The conventional etymology for "Bye bye" is said to be a contraction of "God be with you". That's not so convincing as the phrase's sounds don't quite contract towards a "Bye bye", do they...

For now, I'd place my linguistic bets on the "Baik-baik" origin!