Head spun! 🤯
The other day I found out that the transitive verb "to farewell [someone]" is uniquely Australian.
Yes, really!
Mignon Fogarty (aka the internet's Grammar Girl) recently asked whether Australians actually use "farewell" as a verb, because in North America they definitely don’t.
And I can confirm: we absolutely do!
In Australian English, "to farewell [someone]" means to say goodbye to someone for a long time or forever in a meaningful, emotional or ceremonial way. So you'd farewell a work colleague who's starting a new job elsewhere but you wouldn’t farewell that colleague if they're just popping out to the shops.
Essentially, it's the Aussie equivalent of "to bid farewell" – just that we drop the "bid" (how on-brand for us!)
As I've mentioned many times before, discovering what makes Australian English unique has been and will be an ongoing journey for me. Just when I least suspect it, I find out something new. The quirks are endless – and that’s exactly what makes all languages, and not just Australian English, so fascinating.
If you want to avoid farewelling your Australian customers with your unlocalised promotional text and copy, then do yourself a favour and have someone like me fix it all up to get Aussies to come to you with their hard-earned dollarydoos. All you need to do is email me at info@nicknasev.com to get the ball rolling!
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