Have a good day

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

We do not say “Good day” when greeting, we say Good morning, Good afternoon… But, can we say “Have a good day” when leaving? My friend often says “Have a good day” to me (maybe she wants me to have a good day) when our talk ends. I don’t know whether it is possilbe. Please tell me.

Thanks

2

Hi!

Well, Have a good day is a common well-wishing phrase and I think it’s OK to use it.

Merry Christmas!

3

PS - I read somewhere that Have a good day is not well-wishing, actually it’s well-hoping.

The idea was that the modern English word good is derived from the Old English word god, and contemporary word God is derived from the same word. The author said that it connected God with good, goodness with Godness. To the Old English speaker Have a good day meant Have a God day or Go with God, be with God, be with goodness.

Something like this…

4

Thank you, Sidle Jinks. But I’m wondering whether we can use that phrase or not.

5

Hi!

So why not? :slight_smile:

6

Did you know that Jon Bon Jovi has released a song called Have a nice day. So have a nice day is probably a variation of have a good day.

7

As for me, I prefer to say Have a nice day. But I wonder if there is any difference between have a nice day and have a good day?

8

Hi Sidle Jinks, how are things in Ukraine? Regarding nice - I must admit I don’t like this word very much. Everything can be nice - oh how nice, oh what a nice face, nice weather, you are so nice. What exactly does nice mean? I think this word is overused and therefore it’s lost its meaning. Yes, you could say the same about the adjective good but good sounds more neutral. Nice is used by American actresses and celebrities like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears whose active vocabulary is rather limited to say the least and I don’t want to fall into that category no matter how much money they might have…

9

Hi Nicole!

Things in Ukraine are going fine, thank you. But anyway, have a nice day is a common well-wishing phrase and it had existed long before Britney Spears. And as for nice, in Russian we have a word, милый (milyi - transliterated), which is also used in Russian equivalents for how nice, what a nice face etc.