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I want to know if this english word 'Take Care' that we use in greetings have the same deep meaning or approach as our language is.

In my language (Filipino), it was 'Ingat po kayo' which is, if studied deeper, tells that 'Take Care, because something bad might happen to you' unlike if we're using the English term, we just understand it as closing greeting but doesn't contain any other meaning.

FpB
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    Why do you think that the English parting words (not 'word') 'take care' 'don't mean anything'? They may be ritual to a certain extent, but when I say them I mean them exactly as you say Filipinos and Filipinas do. – Michael Harvey Jan 04 '20 at 10:31
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    The pragmatics of such salutations/valedictions are complex. There have been heated debates (!) over whether "How do you do[?]" should be seen as a near-exact synonym of "Hi!" or a genuine solicitation requiring/inviting "I'm very well, thanks. You?" Probably, different people use it differently, people use it differently depending on who they're talking to and how they themselves are feeling, and anyone insisting that it must always be seen as being at one extreme or the other is arrogating. // I'd say "Take Care!" never comes across as being as possibly bleached of empathy as "HDYD" does. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 04 '20 at 10:33
  • I was brought up to believe that when someone says 'How do you do', the only correct response is to repeat those words. Any other response, e.g. 'Nicely, thank you', or 'Right graidely', would be a dreadful solecism that would indelibly mark me as little better than a barrow-boy (my parents were very keen to avoid that, and often said so). – Michael Harvey Jan 04 '20 at 10:44
  • @MichaelHarvey Again, in our language, 'Take Care' have different meaning. Base in our culture, I use 'Take Care' to end a conversation and to tell him/her that I care for them. – FpB Jan 04 '20 at 10:45
  • @MichaelHarvey As 92% of people in the Philippines can speak En as a second language, they sometimes choose to say "Take care" when saying goodbye, and I think the actual meaning of the words has been lost. To them, it's just another way to say "See you" or something. – Apollonian Jan 04 '20 at 10:47
  • @SilverFace Pretty cool with 92% as the expectation that can speak English. But the reality, it was only 50% who does know really the meaning of what his/her speaking. It's hard for us to study English because some terms doesn't have Filipino translation and even if it had, their meanings arw different. Yes it's our second language but in some places, you'll hear most of other dialects or Spanish words. – FpB Jan 04 '20 at 11:01
  • I say 'Take care' all the time. Most say 'And you', in response. What I am finding vaguely peculiar is when I greet people with 'Y'alright ?' they say in return 'Y'alright ?' leaving neither of us any the wiser about one another's health and well being. – Nigel J Jan 04 '20 at 12:12
  • @Michael Harvey Discussed at Do you really answer "How do you do?" with "How do you do?"?. Nowadays, perhaps the most usual answer in some circumstances would be a brief grunt and a fast retreat. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 04 '20 at 16:48
  • @Edwin Ashworth - yes, I really do answer that way. Some of us still have standards. My daughter recently said "Are you aware that you come over as a posh old buffer?" and I said "My dear, less of the 'old', if you don't mind'. I'm only 67. – Michael Harvey Jan 04 '20 at 19:42
  • @Michael Harvey. Oh goody; I can pull rank. But I've said "How do you do" (no question) at most ten times in the last 61/2 decades. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 04 '20 at 19:45
  • Don't get me wrong. I would no more be the first to say 'how do you do' to someone, than I would say 'I am, sir, your most obedient servant' upon leaving them, attractive though the idea is. I just mean I know how to respond if it is said to me, and that is not often these days. – Michael Harvey Jan 04 '20 at 20:06
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    @Nigel J, here in Bristol, the standard greeting, especially to strangers, is 'All right?', and it is also the standard reply. – Michael Harvey Jan 04 '20 at 20:14

1 Answers1

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Take care can be used as a closing greeting that really cannot be picked apart further, a mere synonym of goodbye.

It's not the case, though, as you suspect that it "doesn't contain any other meaning", because it can also mean, well, take care. Subtle clues of intonation and body language can let someone know that when you say "Take care", you are trying to tell them that you are wishing them caution and strength as they face the challenges ahead of them.

In uses other than the two-word form, the words certainly have their core meaning: take care not to forget your passport or take care of Fido and Spike. This also goes for expanded forms of the parting words, such as take care of you[rself], you take care, or take care, out there, all of which more clearly genuinely communicate more explicitly the desire for the recipient to, well, take care.

Mike Graham
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    To avoid confusing the future visitors to this page, it should be emphasised that although the phrase can be used to wish somebody 'caution and strength as they face the challenges ahead of them', it is only sometimes so used; on most occasions of its use it does not imply that any specific challenges are anticipated. It should also be noted that even the phrase functions similarly to goodbye, its use, unlike that of goodbye, suggests that there is relatively warm friendship between the people involved. – jsw29 Jan 04 '20 at 16:33
  • "It should also be noted that even the phrase functions similarly to goodbye, its use, unlike that of goodbye, suggests that there is relatively warm friendship between the people involved." There are myriad differences in usage and connotation between goodbye and take care, like most synonyms, and I did not choose to expound. I don't agree with this one, though--take care is something (in my dialect at least) that patrons would say to store clerks or that a person would say to someone they chit-chatted with in a waiting room. – Mike Graham Jan 04 '20 at 16:43