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 .[ 1]
A later use is from William Shakespeare 's Troilus and Cressida [ 2]
good riddance
( 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 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens , “Mr. Dombey and the World”, in Dombey and Son Bradbury and Evans , [ … ] 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 .
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 quedas sin gente ( literally “ goodbye Madrid, may you end up without people ” )
Swedish: lycklig resa bli kvitt
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 )