---
title: Ambassador accidentally wishes the UK “good riddance”
description: When you speak another language, you often find that there’s that one word or phrase you use all the time…incorrectly. This was the case...
---

[aiaTranslations: The Language of Life Sciences Blog ](https://aiatranslations.com/blog)

# [Ambassador accidentally wishes the UK “good riddance”](https://aiatranslations.com/blog/post/ambassador-accidentally-wishes-the-uk-good-riddance)

 Written by [Alysa Salzberg](https://aiatranslations.com/blog/author/alysa-salzberg) | Feb 10, 2020 5:00:00 AM

When you speak another language, you often find that there’s that one word or phrase you use all the time…incorrectly. This was the case for Irena Andrassy, Croatia's representative to the EU, who chaired the final ambassadors’ meeting before Brexit.

Andrassy closed the meeting with these final words to the UK: “Thank you, goodbye, and good riddance”.

It turns out she wasn’t being angry or snarky; Andrassy had always thought that “good riddance” meant “good luck”!

[Read on](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-eu-uk-final-message-translation-andrassy-a9316491.html) to find out the cheeky way the UK responded to this miscommunication.

[*Image source*](https://www.bilan.ch/economie/brexit-may-demande-a-lue-un-effort-supplementaire-pour-que-laccord-passe)

*Contact Our Writer – *[*Alysa Salzberg*](http://www.alysasalzberg.com/)

[View full post](https://aiatranslations.com/blog/post/ambassador-accidentally-wishes-the-uk-good-riddance)

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