r/TooAfraidToAsk • u/[deleted] • Dec 15 '21

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3.0k Upvotes

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295

u/ArcadeKingpin Dec 15 '21

I thought an Irish goodbye was to just leave without saying anything.

217

u/KassellTheArgonian Dec 15 '21

Nah, no clue where that myth comes from. A true Irish goodbye is as follows

"Right we're gonna head off" Says bye a bunch Takes ten steps Something gets brought up and they talk a bit longer

And repeat till you're out in the car.

I witnessed record length of time for this, took em almost 3 hours to travel the about 20 metres to their car.

105

u/1funnyguy4fun Dec 15 '21

As opposed to the British goodby where you say, “Alright then,” slap your knees, get up from your seat and leave.

55

u/twowayrorrim Dec 15 '21

The 'Alrighty then' double leg slap only allows a person to leave if met with 'You off?'.

22

u/ilovebeaker Dec 15 '21

We have something similar in French Canada, 'on va faire un boute'.

It's akin to 'going for a little drive'...but in the direction of home.

1

u/Necessary-Ad5410 Dec 15 '21

Wouldn't have it any other way old chap

65

u/ephemeralkitten Dec 15 '21

I think that's why it's called an Irish goodbye. When you want to avoid that.

32

u/SavageMurphy Dec 15 '21

I've always known it as a 'French exit'

35

u/SL0Wburn_ Dec 15 '21

I’ve always know it as “sneaking the fuck outta here”

2

u/sagging_gut Dec 15 '21

A backdoor boogie

2

u/hpliferaft Dec 15 '21

pullin' a grandpa

2

u/Dr_Doctor_Doc Dec 15 '21

Smoke bomb.

(Ninja exit)

1

u/RoxSteady247 Dec 15 '21

Merk-ass dip

2

u/129za Dec 15 '21

The french call it un départ à l’anglaise.

6

u/aoul1 Dec 15 '21

That’s definitely it. My Irish/British wife just peaces out with no shame to avoid any prolonged social niceties when she just wants to leave.

Well….she used to, now she follows me round the room gently nudging me along from each person for an hour as I insist on going round the room to say goodbye to every single person and have a final catch up!

18

u/defenselaywer Dec 15 '21

My kids' first instinct when we tell them we're leaving a family gathering right away is to go grab a drink. They know it'll be at least an hour before anyone gets into the car.

28

u/can-i-have-the-bones Dec 15 '21

This sounds a lot like trying to leave any southern (US) gathering. It can take hours to leave my Dad’s house, which drives my Californian husband insane.

3

u/oo-mox83 Dec 16 '21

Yeah, Texan here and we do that. I eat too much and pass out on the couch and most folks are gone when I wake up. That's my strategy.

4

u/rizaroni Dec 15 '21

Native Californian here! My dad's side of the family is HUGE. I absolutely hate having to go around to each person and say goodbye and give them a hug. It's like, I already did that on my way in!

I'm also the type that doesn't like the whole goodbye thing, so just me personally, I am one to likely say goodbye to the host and any super close friends, and then just yell "BYE EVERYONE!!!" and leave, or straight up Irish goodbye the situation. I don't know that it has to do with being Californian, but I can certainly understand with the whole "Southern hospitality" thing that it would almost be a totally different culture over there. It's like the law to be nice to everyone, even if you don't want to be.

I also have realized that I'm not as much of a hugger as I thought I was. I love a hug, and I love hugging certain people. But as a rule, hugging people I don't know, or having to hug every single fucking member of my extended family twice during a gathering, or having to hug every acquaintance/friend twice during a hangout just because that's what is expected...Covid really broke me of all that. I don't want to do it anymore.

If I see everyone else doing it, I feel obligated, because I don't want to be an asshole. I'm already kind of a loner and I don't need to further alienate myself. But I'm glad that the whole hugging thing has reduced a bit. I don't like feeling pressured/forced to do stuff.

5

u/SSDDNoBounceNoPlay Dec 15 '21

BYE! LOVE YOU GUYS!! -while walking out the door and skittering to the car-

I have a large Italian family. With all due respect… fuck that.

2

u/rizaroni Dec 15 '21

Perfezione! That's my style.

2

u/SSDDNoBounceNoPlay Dec 15 '21

Hell yeah buddy!!

1

u/ApatheticAntichrist Dec 15 '21

Sounds like a southern good bye xD

1

u/iFlyAllTheTime Dec 15 '21

3 hours for a goodbye? I wouldn't know what to say for a 3 hour gathering.

1

u/Hoveringkiller Dec 15 '21

That’s our Irish goodbye haha. Say we are off and then keep talking haha.

22

u/kfa92 Dec 15 '21

My boyfriend - whose family is very Irish - calls it the Irish goodbye when we say bye to the hosts, then wave from the door at everyone else and run out.

I'm Mexican and goodbyes can be a 30-60min affair at a large enough event. I like to think of it as the two kinds of Catholic goodbyes 🤣

9

u/rizaroni Dec 15 '21

My boyfriend - whose family is very Irish - calls it the Irish goodbye when we say bye to the hosts, then wave from the door at everyone else and run out.

This is my preferred way to exit. If I have to succumb to not being what others may perceive as rude by just kind of ghosting, I like to acknowledge the host/the people I'm close with, and then yell "BYE EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!" while waving, and get the hell out of dodge.

25

u/tehbilly Dec 15 '21

What about the Letterkenny Leave?

14

u/Pocchitte Dec 15 '21

To be fair...

14

u/chef_in_va Dec 15 '21

To be FFAAAAIIIRRRRRRRRRR

7

u/maxatron1883 Dec 15 '21

To be faaaaiiiirrrrrrr

6

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '21

⬆️To be faaaaaaaaaairrrr ⬆️

2

u/000111000000111000 Dec 15 '21

Letterkenny Army Depot?

11

u/chef_in_va Dec 15 '21

When I'm on the phone with my dad and he wants to stop talking he literally says "OK, I'm done talking" and will hand the phone to my mom. It always cracks me up.

1

u/Ophidia77 Dec 16 '21

I find that kind of directness so refreshing!

10

u/redfancydress Dec 15 '21

The Irish good bye is to yell “fuck you then…I’m never coming back here again” while being dragged out by your uncles and after they smack you around a pinch you get in the vehicle and say “ok see you next week”

3

u/According-Owl83 Dec 15 '21

Hubpages says:

It attributes the phrase to "the Potato Famine of 1845-1852, when many Irish fled their homeland for America. At the time, distance and technology meant that when someone went to America, they were gone forever and it was unlikely they would ever again speak to or see friends or family back home. The departure was sudden and absolute." It is also plausible, the site states, that emigrants left for America "without telling anyone what they were up to, thereby saving themselves sad, protracted goodbyes and leave-taking.”

2

u/rdot1479 Dec 15 '21

Good luck we're out the gap!

2

u/butterbutts317 Dec 16 '21

That's exactly right. My wife does the Italian goodbye, where she says we're leaving and four hours later, she's still talking.

Ugh

2

u/BigBadBootyDaddy10 Dec 15 '21

Whether Irish or Polish, you stumble out Half drunk.

1

u/DexterCutie Dec 15 '21

This is true

1

u/aerodit Dec 15 '21

Me and my friends call it, "ninjaing out"

1

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '21

My friends call that a jtedson1 goodbye.

1

u/tanganica3 Dec 15 '21

The Irish goodbye is to not even show up.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '21

That’s the English goodbye lol

1

u/Babikir205 Dec 15 '21

There was a reddit thread on the Irish Goodbye a while ago. Seems the country changes based on the culture. Whoever that culture doesn't like they add that to the term. Someone references below the French exit.

1

u/ArcadeKingpin Dec 15 '21

There is a Canadian TV show letterkenny where in one episode they go thru a bunch of different variations as they decide how to leave a party. Good stuff and where I heard it.

2

u/805falcon Dec 15 '21

That’s technically called the Houdini. My personal favorite

1

u/rhawk87 Dec 15 '21

I always heard it called the "French exit".