Shalom!

Tags: Hebrew, Judaism, Shalom
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Um.... Thank you? Someone said shalom to me when I did something nice - I took it as a thank you. Is it? And if so, how should I have responded? I smiled, which suffices. I stopped short of saying you're welcome.

What does shalom mean (I suspect more than one meaning)?
How should one respond to shalom?

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@littlek,

It's a greeting in hebrew wishing "peace". In the 60s, people would say
peace as greeting, and shalom is used in that way. "Ose shalom" (the one who
makes peace).

But jespah is probably more conversed in hebrew.

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I believe it means "peace" in Hebrew, but it's also used by non-Jews. It also functions as a greeting. A smile and "thanks" is probably good, in your situation. A smile should also work. Or a commensurate greeting or "you too", if someone uses it like "hello" or ""ciao".

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When someone says something to me
that I don 't understand, I usually probe to find out.

Its not hard; I ofen say: " What ? "

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betcha you're just a ton of fun in social contexts, David.

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@littlek,

...or you can ask here... shalom, like fuhgeddaboudit, can be used in many contexts, depending on situation.

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@littlek,

Shalom means peace in Hebrew. It can be used as a greeting, like "hello", or a leave taking, like "goodbye".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalom

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@littlek,

I always thought it meant something like "ciao" with a sprinkling of "have a good life."

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Thanks all!

David, it wouldn't have been convenient to stop and ask. We were passing in a dark tower on a spiral, stone staircase (look-out tower). She had a baby in a sling/bjorn and was concentrating on not falling down the stairs.

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@littlek,

I don't recall the word in Arabic, but it is quite similar.

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@roger,

roger wrote:

I don't recall the word in Arabic, but it is quite similar.

salaam

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@littlek,

no, In hebrew Todah is thank you.

Shalom does translate to hello, goodbye and peace.

Yes, correct, sa'laam is Arabic parallel for Shalom.

However, ciao has many more transaltions than does shalom.

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@littlek,

DOAN BE SILLY

Shalom means "GO PHILLIES< KICK THE SHIT OUT OF THE SOX"(if the sox even make it)

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@Ragman,

Ragman wrote:

no, In hebrew Todah is thank you.

Shalom does translate to hello, goodbye and peace.

Yes, correct, sa'laam is Arabic parallel for Shalom.

However, ciao has many more transaltions than does shalom.

Bingo. I've also heard Todah Rabah for thank you.

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@jespah,

Yes. Todah rabah = thank you very much..(or plainly... many thanks)

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@Ragman,

I shulda remembered "todah" from my visit to Israel a couple of years ago.

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@Ragman,

I have seen and heard 'salaam malaikum' in Hollywood movies and other ethnic movies. Also 'khuda afis'. For sure khuda means God. Maybe it means 'May God be with you'.

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@Ragman,

Ragman wrote:

However, ciao has many more transaltions than does shalom.

I'm curious about all these translations of 'ciao'.

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In arabic-speaking countries, and in a lot of othger countries where Moslems borrow it from the Arabic, a standard greeting is "as salaam aleikum" or "was salaam aleikum" or "salaam aleikum" (there are a lot of ways it's transliterated into the Roman alphabet, so there are other versions similar) which means something like "peace be unto you"

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@ossobuco,

when i spent a year in vienna many(!!!!!!) moons ago , the traditional greeting was SERVUS (from the latin "servus" = servant , slave) , meaning "at your service , ready to help nice to see you and good bye ".
when we visited vienna for three weeks in 2001 the younger people were using "chiao" all the time , but we were still greeting people with "servus" - the older ones still understood ! <GRIN>
hbg

that's the vienna i remembered - it no longer exists !

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Shalom!

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