"Cheers": an informal greeting?

[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

Hi!

Hope you excuse this stupid question! Listening to BFBS, today, I heard this expression and was able to understand "Cheers" in the sense of "Hello" or "Good bye" only.

Would like if anybody can clarify that to me.

Thanks in advance

Michael

[Yankee]

Hi Michael

I've heard that the Brits use "Cheers" to mean both hello and goodbye, but we'd better wait for someone from the UK to confirm (or deny ) that.

In the US, "Cheers" is probably thought of primarily as the name of a TV sitcom from the 80s and 90s and a famous pub in Boston. And "Cheers" may also still be used as a toast sometimes.

http://www.cheersboston.com/

Amy

[Torsten]

Hi, I used to communicate with a US journalist and author who would often write "cheers" instead of "thanks" or "bye" as the closing line in his emails.
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[Bara]

Hi all,
By one glance on Cambridge dictionary I found that:
Cheers:

1 a friendly expression said just before you drink an alcoholic drink:
Cheers! Your good health.

2 UK INFORMAL used to mean 'thank you':
"I've bought you a drink." "Cheers, mate."

3 UK INFORMAL used to mean 'goodbye':
"Bye." "Cheers, see you next week."

I hope it helps all of us and thank you Michael for this question.

Old and New Guy
Baraa

[Tamara]

Hi

[Alan]

Hi,

'Cheers' has become one of the most frequently used words in the UK as Tamara avers. To my generation of grumpy old men it sounds really odd because I was brought up to use 'cheers' as a salutation when you raised your glass to drink in company with others. Now it's just another word for saying all the things that Bara has listed. The really weird thing is that I heard myself using it for the first time ever to thank someone. I felt quite strange.

Cheers

A
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[Torsten]

This reminds me that in December 2003 Alan wrote an excellent piece on "Cheers" and other greetings in English which you can read here: Well, hello!
http://www.english-test.net/newsletter/well-hello-96.html
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[Fan Of Arabian Horses]

Hi all and a kind cheers!

Thanks for all your replies.

Well, I see, there are lots of situations when "cheers" can be used. I also have read Alan?s short story and after having done that I think every language has such words. Like us German sometimes use "tschau" or in the Netherlands you often can hear "ha-y?" at several occassions.

Michael

[Prezbucky]

To Brits, is "cheers" just a shortened form of "cheerio" or "cheerie oh" (however it's spelled/phrased)?

Amy nailed the US use of "cheers"
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[Pamela]

Cheerio is a colloquial word used as farewell.
Cheerio, old friends!

[Prezbucky]

Danke
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[Torsten]

I was just thinking of the 'cheers' issue again. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I used to work with and for an American journalist/script writer/English teacher who would often use 'cheers' in his email instead of 'thanks/bye/regards'. Maybe he used/uses 'cheers' because he has been living in Germany for quite a while where you communicated and worked with English speakers from Europe?

Please let me know what you think on this.
Cheers,
Torsten
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[Yankee]

Hi Torsten

I've picked up quite a few expressions and usages that I would consider "British" from British colleagues and friends -- and also from British ESL books and on ESL forums. And I'm still picking things up. You've probably noticed that I ask questions about British usage fairly often right here on the forum.

Thanks to this forum, I also now know what "bed tea" is (but I never actually use that expression with any Americans I know).

As for your American friend, why don't just you ask him how/why/when he started using "cheers" in his e-mail?
.

[Jimb0678]

I use the word 'cheers' all the time as a light form of 'thanks', normally only when speaking to other males. It seems to have a mutually known meaning that's somewhere between acknowledgment and thanks. Of course, I'm sure plenty of people use it instead of 'goodbye'.

[Ralf]