good riddance

English

Etymology

Appears first in phrases like a great riddance or 'a fair riddance'. An earlier use than William Shakespeare's is in a letter dated 3 August 1597 from Lord Burgh to Sir Robert Cecil in the State Papers relating to Ireland, p.364- or in good riddance. A later use is from William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, 2, i.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɡʊd ˈɹɪd(ə)ns/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɡʊd ˈɹɪdns/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: good rid‧dance

Interjection

good riddance

1. (negative connotation) Used to indicate that a departure or loss is welcome.

   I couldn’t be more glad to see the back of them. Good riddance, I say.

   Goodbye and good riddance!

   • [1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Dombey and the World”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 510:

     [T]o tell you my mind, Lucretia, I think it's a good riddance. I don't want any of your brazen faces here, myself!]

   • 2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They May Look Goofy, but Ostriches are Nobody’s Fool”, in National Geographic‎^[2]:

     After 50 years of farming, Fisch too has left the ostrich business, and says good riddance.

Coordinate terms

• and nothing of value was lost
• at last
• at long last
• finally
• it's about time

Derived terms

• good riddance to bad rubbish

Translations

used to indicate that a departure or loss is welcome

• Arabic: رَحِيل غَيْر مَأْسُوف عَلَيْهِ m (raḥīl ḡayr maʔsūf ʕalayhi), رَحِيل غَيْر مَأْسُوف عَلَيْهَا f (raḥīl ḡayr maʔsūf ʕalayhā)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Asturian: a Arxel, que ye tierra caliente (ast) (literally “to Algiers, which is hot land”)
• Azerbaijani: yol açıqdır, yaxşı yol
• Bashkir: дүрт яғың ҡибла (dürt yağıñ qibla, literally “your four directions are qibla”), дүрт яғы ҡибла (dürt yağı qibla, literally “his/her four directions are qibla”)
• Belarusian: абру́сам даро́га (abrúsam daróha), ба́ба з калёс — калёсам лягчэ́й (bába z kaljós — kaljósam ljahčéj)
• Catalan: bon vent i barca nova (literally “good wind and new boat”)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 好行夾唔送／好行夹唔送 (hou² haang⁴ gaap³ m⁴ sung³)

  Mandarin: 終於擺脫了／终于摆脱了 (zhōngyú bǎituō le), 送瘟神 (sòng wēnshén), 好走不送 (hǎozǒu bù sòng), 再也不見／再也不见 (zàiyě bùjiàn)

• Dutch: opgeruimd staat netjes (literally “tidied up looks neat”), liever kwijt dan rijk (literally “rather rid than rich”)
• Esperanto: ĝis neniam (literally “until never”)
• Estonian: head teed tal minna
• Faroese: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: tervemenoa (fi)
• French: bon débarras (fr), bon vent (fr) (literally “good wind”)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: auf Nimmerwiedersehen (de) (literally “till we never meet again”), wurde auch Zeit (literally “was about time”); otherwise no real idiomatic saying, but commonly something like gut, dass wir den/das/die los sind (literally “good that we're rid of them”)
• Greek: καλά ξεκουμπίδια (kalá xekoumpídia)
• Hebrew: ברוך שפטרנו (baruch shepetaranu)
• Hungarian: nem kár érte, jó, hogy megszabadultunk tőle, nem fog hiányozni, nem fogunk könnyeket hullatni érte
• Icelandic: farið hefur fé betra
• Irish: bliain mhaith i diaidh
• Italian: a mai più rivederci (literally “until we never meet again”), che liberazione, tanti saluti
• Japanese: 厄払い (やくはらい, yakuharai), 厄介払い (やっかいばらい, yakkaibarai)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: به سلامت (be salâmat)
• Polish: baba z wozu, koniom lżej (pl) (literally “the grandma's out of the cart, the horse has it easier [now]”), krzyżyk/krzyż na drogę (literally “a cross for the road”), droga wolna (literally “[the] way [is] free”)
• Portuguese: já vai tarde (literally “about time for him/her to go”)
• Romanian: adio și n-am cuvinte, du-te!, ducă-se!, drum bun!
• Russian: ска́тертью доро́га (ru) (skátertʹju doróga, literally “let the road be like a tablecloth”), ба́ба с во́зу — кобы́ле ле́гче (bába s vózu — kobýle léxče, literally “when an old woman leaves the cart, the mare feels easier”)
• Sardinian: ithe lastima!
• Scottish Gaelic: siubhal a' chlamhain, 's math cuidhteas e
• Serbo-Croatian: zbogom i ne vraćaj se!, збогом и не враћај се!
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: ¡ya era hora! (literally “[it was] about time”), a enemigo que huye, puente de plata (literally “an enemy who retreats deserves a silver bridge”), cruz y raya (colloquial), con viento fresco (literally “with fresh wind”), adiós Madrid, que te quedes sin gente (literally “goodbye Madrid, may you end up without people”), qué alivio, adiós y buen viaje, adiós y hasta nunca, por fin (es), al fin, que te vayás
• Swedish: lycklig resa! bli kvitt (något eller någon)
• Thai: ไป ๆ ซะได้ก็ดี, ดีมาก (dii maak)
• Turkish: gidişi olsun, dönüşü olmasın (literally “let him/her/it go and not come back”)
• Ukrainian: скатерти́ною доро́га (skatertýnoju doróha), ска́тертю доро́га (skátertju doróha), ба́ба з во́за — коня́м ле́гше (bába z vóza — konjám léhše)
• Vietnamese: đỡ nợ, rảnh nợ (vi), vĩnh biệt (vi)
• Welsh: gwynt teg ar ei ôl (cy) (literally “a fair wind after him/it”), gwynt teg ar ei hôl (literally “a fair wind after her/it”)
• West Frisian: leaver kwyt as ryk (literally “rather rid than rich”)
• Yiddish: ברוך שפּטרני (borekh shepotrane, literally “blessed be He who has freed me”), אַ שיינע ריינע כּפּרה (a sheyne reyne kapore)

Further reading

• “good riddance”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “good riddance”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “good riddance to somebody” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.