One of the adorable things I noticed during my recent trip to Madrid was "...lluego". They drop the "hasta de". At first, I thought my hearing was going; but it was actually quite nice to notice that everyone said it as they were leaving a store, or a restaurant, or, well, just leaving... "...lluego!" In comparison, when leaving anywhere in Toronto, people just leave, often without saying anything.

Hi there Sylvia,

I know what you mean, I noticed that there years ago when commuting between Madrid and Barcelona, and for a long time I was just sticking with the more formal ''Adios'', as I thought it was safer for me as a foreigner with an extremely limited vocabulary to not try and get too coloquial with people who are native speakers, as I thought (at that time) that they might think that I was being funny or something, and so I tended to use slightly less familiar and more formal sounding language, with the exception of when in Barcelona, I learned quickly to say ''deu'' as it is much more appreciated by the Catalan locals, and not to use the Castillian ''adios'' or hasta luego, as they seem to me to be not as comfortable with that, unless it comes from someone that they know well, and I found that to use simply ''luego'' in Barcelona does not get much of a responce (if any) from many people, unless they happen to be from Madrid, or Zaragoza, in which case I might add out of interest, they actually do use and very much appreciate the use of ''luego'' and I think quite like it if visitors do as well, even though their region is Aragon, and they maintain their Aragonese identity, they seem to me to be very much more in tune with Castillians and Castellano, and not so much with Catalanes, but that's another story, but as for the use of the expression ''luego'', I can tell you that over here in London U.K. we have been using that for donkeys years, I personally started saying ''Later'' or even ''Laters'' way back in around about 1977 or so, and in my local area near to Paddington, it was quite common for most young people to simply say catch ya later or laters or ''Ciao'' which has always been very popular throughout most of the known world I think, and I'm not sure it the Spaniards got ''Later'' from us, or if we got it from them, still either way, it seems to be quite popular these days, but when in Barcelona I always have to remind myself to switch back to using ''deu'' and then I get that all important smile as I make for the door, (well, from some anyway, but not all).

I must say, that it took a little time to get used to saying just 'luego' when leaving a shop after just having purchased something, I was so used to being/sounding so formal and respectful etc, that I felt slightly uncomfortable with saying just luego, and could not even force myself to dare say it to anyone who looked even no more than several years older than me, which I thought at that time would be taken as too familiar and possibly taken as disrespectful, and so reverted back to the standard ''adios'' just in case.


Ciao/luego/Laters.......Santi

Sylvia, i think what you were hearing was "ta logo".

the "ta" is a very fast way for the spaniards to say hasta and to the untrained ear, you can barely even distinguish it so it may sound like just "luego". the "logo" is really "luego" but they say it so fast and do not vocalize well so it sounds like logo.

i say this since to my knowledge the "hasta" in "hasta luego" has not (yet ) been totally dropped.

saludos,
jer...


saludos,
jer...

ahhhh.... so THAT'S what they were saying! So, perhaps it's like "see you later", shortened to "latah". Still nice, though, to even make some parting acknowledgement.

I too, wasn't comfortable in using it, so I made the effort to say "gracias, hasta luego", or "gracias, adios".

Another thing I noticed was an array of accents, or dialects. I heard one or two taxi drivers, and tapas bar owners, speaking something very similar to Cuban spanish, no "R's", or "S's". Yet, in law firms, or depending on the store I went in to, I noticed a "well rounded" dialect...hmmmm... Your thoughts...

quote:

I heard one or two taxi drivers, and tapas bar owners, speaking something very similar to Cuban spanish, no "R's", or "S's". Yet, in law firms, or depending on the store I went in to, I noticed a "well rounded" dialect...hmmmm... Your thoughts...

the "eating" of the "r" and/or "s" on words is pretty common here. it can be chalked up to just plain lazines or lack of education.

no, you would not expect to hear a lawyer or anyone else in a higher socio-economic strata to speak like that.

while the lawyer would speak correctly and pronounce the words correctly -- "como estas", the waiter in the tapas bar may just say "como ta".

another example...

- lawyer = vas a testificar hoy.
- waiter in the tapas bar = va a tetifica hoy.

yes, i know a waiter in the tapas bar would not normally say "you are going to testify today" but humor me, it is just an example

saludos,
jer...

sorry to disagree, all my life livin in Madrid, only yonkels, people with a problem to pronounce correctly,drunkards etc...would say lluego,taluego etc... Probably you hear "sta luego" as sometimes I hear "´s work togheter" instead of Let us work togheter. I highly recommend to neglect that kind of thing and try to speak clear. too much better, honestly...

...........and of course the Canarians, whether drunk, yokel, or not, drop the "s" in most words!!

Interesting that jer, that they are probably saying "ta logo", I will listen more closely now, as I always hear it as "uego".

Funny, my experience has been quite different. I've noticed that when shopkeepers farewell customers, it sounds more like "sta lo" with the second syllable kind of rumbling away into nothing. The "luego" is imperceptible. I've been practising it myself and hope to perfect it in another year or so.

Here in Navalcarnero they say " Ta luego"

They are of course saying Hasta luego, but it sounds like ta luego.

I also say that now, and have had no probems.

just goes to show how each person hears the same or a similar phrase differently.

very interesting topic.

saludos,
jer...