On a trip to Italy this summer I was surprised by the Salves (the hey/hi kind) I received in Le Marche, Lazio and Abruzzo. I had thought they were almost entirely a Southern thing especially with strangers/tourists.

I use Salve as a greeting a lot, usually in that time between day and late afternoon when I can never get the timing of Buona Sera right. But I have never heard it used as anything other than a greeting.

rialtogrl I think you are right about salve being only a greeting. I could be getting it confused with "prego" which seems to have several uses as above.

German:

1-Hallo is frequently used - it is less formal than Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, but widely common and can be used any time of day.

2-Entschuldigung - often people will just mutter something that just sounds like "'schulljung". Can be used both for "Excuse me" and "Sorry!"
"Verzeihung" is a stronger apology for more severe cases. "Sorry" is also often used.

3-Bitte - for all uses (see the discussion above concerning the Italian "prego" vs. "per favore": German has no such distinction.) "Bitte!" is als the appropriate answer to "Danke!", in the sense of "You're welcome". So this one is easy.

4-Auf Wiedersehen (formal) or Tschüss (informal). The Italian "ciao" ("tschau") is also in use. "Servus" can sometimes be heard in the south.

5-Danke - also universal.

1- Daag!
2- Pardon
3- Please
4- Daag! Tot ziens
5- dank u (wel)

Goedemorgen, goedemiddag, goedenavond depending on time of day, or simply: Hallo

Pardon, or "sorry", "Neem me niet kwalijk" is more formal. If you bump into someone, "sorry" is mostly used, if you want to pass someone who is blocking your path, "pardon". The Hague east of Venestraat is "pardon" territory (slightly posh)

Alstublieft (if you hand something to someone, or do something for someone)
Graag if you want something

Dag; Tot ziens (slightly more formal) Doei (very informal)

Dank u wel

Tssss.

Sorry is :
Wees zo goed mij te verontschuldigen.
In Flemish.
Or :
Auriez-vous l'obligeance de me pardonner.

One thing that amazes me in Germany is 'malzeit' (sp) which is used everywhere around noon but never at home I have been told.

Polish
Dzien dobry. Smatchnego (sp) dzien kuye bori dupa. Czech. Etc.

Never mind the Serbian: what's the English for "pardon me"?

Is this a phrase that means something in Detroit, or did PalQ invent it after overdosing on the paint again?

Or in Flemish 'wadde ?' sorry and astableef work wonders.

In French don't forget 'hein' that you can vary with ? = what ? With ! = n'est ce pas ? Or sure

What did Wo overdose on when he tried that Polish..?

So here is the proper Polish:

1. Dzień dobry (Good day), Dobre wieczór (Good evening) or cześć (informal)

2. Przepraszam (Excuse me) resp. Bardzo my przykro (I'm sorry). ("Smacznego" is what you say when starting a meal!)

3. Proszę

4. Do widzenia or Do zobaczenia

5. Dziękuję

(Forget it, as hardly any foreigner is capable of pronouncing these;-))

I can pronounce some but cannot write it. I am glad you got what I meant !
I have memorized 'happy new year'.
And have told how to say headache but glowa didn't enter my brains so I was taught via ... Dupa.
But my polish colleagues obviously have fun when they teach me a word.

Cziesc

prziatchuko !

what's the English for "pardon me"?>

Ask Hillary.

We always say Pardon Me just like Excuse Me like in the song

"Pardon me boys is that the Chattanooga Choo-Choo"

In British English, "pardon me" is either lower-middle-class "refained" for if you've just burped (or worse), or it's a sarcastic prelude to "for breathing" if someone thinks you've been unduly rude to them. Either way, you don't particularly want to be in a situation where you might hear it, and you'd have no particular occasion to use it.

In Bavaria, you might hear "Servus!" as a general greeting, and in Austria "Grüß Gott!"

what's the English for "pardon me"?>>

You mean British English - American English uses 'pardon' or 'pardon me' routinely -not as much as excuse me perhaps which I probably should have used in place of pardon me.

Since when if flanneruk an authority on American English - he is Fodor's foremost authority. Period. But in this case out of his knowledge base.

I want to point out to people wanting to use the Dutch (not flemish, pah!) greetings, that the cut-off for Goedemorgen is noon. Not a minute earlier, not a minute later. If you happen to say Goedemorgen and it's PM, it's very likely you'll be corrected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBwxRWa83_E

ah now for some nice swear words.......

Menachem
;-)

Just for you :
Waar komt u vandaan or waarvan bent u afkomstig ?
gives in Flemish
Va(n) waar zijde gij, makker ?

<<"Je vous en prie" is sometimes used to mean please>>

No. It means "you're welcome"

"Je vous prie" means, literally, "I beg you" or "please" (fancy)

Salve is less formal than buongiorno, but not as informal as ciao. You will hear it a lot in shops and supermarkets.

Bewuste Rotterdammer, Wo! Wij zijn het ergst :)

1 Alright? or alreet?

2 Scuse-me

3 Please

4 See you later

5 Ta or cheers