Uf Widerluege
Swiss German
Said in German-speaking Switzerland
Goodbye
Uf Widerluege
Where it comes from
Word for word, Uf Widerluege means “see you again”: uf, “on”; wider, “again”; luege, “to look”. It is German Auf Wiedersehen with one verb swapped: where German sees, Swiss German looks.
Luege is an old word. The Schweizerisches Idiotikon, the great dictionary of Swiss German, gives it in 1895 as “to look” across German-speaking Switzerland, and notes that in Aargau and Basel it slides towards “to see”. It quotes a Zurich saying on the point: whoever looks sees, and whoever doesn’t look sees nothing.
How old the phrase itself is, the sources consulted do not say. All we know is that in German, from 1914 on, Auf Wiedersehen was pushed to replace adieu, thought too French. German-speaking Switzerland, for its part, kept adieu, very widespread according to Wikipedia among people who address each other formally, alongside its own goodbye.
The game put it in Davos and counts it among the words of all German-speaking Switzerland. Up there, the old speech has its own colour anyway: around 1280 the lords of Vaz brought Walser settlers into the valley, and in their dialect Davos is called Tafaas.
In use
When you leave, after a meal, an errand or a visit:
- “Merci vilmal und uf Widerluege!” – Thank you very much and goodbye!
- “Uf Widerluege und e guete Heiwäg!” – Goodbye and safe trip home!
Sources: Schweizerisches Idiotikon, volume III (1895), col. 1221, “luegeⁿ”; German Wikipedia, “Adieu” and “Davos”.