[Idiom] how can I wish a nice sail

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pierofranconi

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please, might you help me to find proper words to wish a nice sail, to a friend of mine who's going for a long voyage by boat ?
thanks in advance
Piero
 

Uncle M

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You could say "Have a nice trip." Or "Have a nice journey."

But in England, we often use the French expression "bon voyage" which seems perfectly fitting here.

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BobK

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:up: [Beat me to it.]

please, might you help me to find proper words to wish a nice sail, to a friend of mine who's going for a long voyage by boat ?
thanks in advance
Piero
A strangely appropriate wish would be 'Bon voyage' [French, but widely used by English-speakers]. The stress on the last word is unEnglish - not /'vɔ:jɪʤ/ but /vwa:j:'a:ʒ/ (that's not an accurate transcription of the French, but it's close enough if you restrict yourself to English phonemes).

The word voyage has - in French, as far as I know - no necessary implication of 'trip on water (it's derived from voie, in English a carriage-way, ultimately from Latin via). But in English, a 'voyage' is usually on water and/or taking place over a considerable time, which is why I said 'strangely appropriate'.

The fact that native English speakers aren't always aware of the derivation is the story of Sam Goldwyn greeting people arriving by ship with the words 'Bon voyage' - a so-called 'Goldwynism'.

b
 
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5jj

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If the person is actuually going on a sailing trip (i.e, where the boat is driven by the action of the wind on the sails), you might wish them 'fair winds'.
 
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