toodle-oo

/ˌtuːdəˈluː/

interjection

Goodbye, farewell, see you soon.

Meanings

interjection

alternative toodaloo · alternative toodeloo

  1. CommonwealthIrelandUKdatedGoodbye, farewell, see you soon.

    "In that case," said Archie, relieved, "cheerio, good luck, pip-pip, toodle-oo, and good-bye-ee! I'll be shifting!"

    1921, P. G. Wodehouse, Indiscretions of Archie, ch. XIII. Rallying Round Percy
    1 more example

    In one of the country gardens two gaily-dressed young coster girls are sitting and chatting with the cottager and his wife. They sit among the flowers and look for all the world like young London lasses who have come to the village to astonish the country folks with their town finery. When they rise and bid the old folks good-bye, and coming through the little wicket stand for a moment at the wooden palings to say “Toodle-oo” in the cheeriest of Cockney accents, we are at first astonished. For a moment my colleague and I had imagined we were in a rural hamlet and in the heart of green England.

    1904 September, George R. Sims, “Off The Track in London V.--Round Hackney Wick”, in The Strand Magazine, London: George Newnes, Ltd., archived from the original on 22 Aug 2016, page 329

    Synonyms: farewell, goodbye

Synonyms & antonyms

interjectionGoodbye, farewell, see you soon.

Origin

  1. Frenchà tout à l'heure“see you later”
  2. Englishtoodle-oo

Unknown. Possibly from French à tout à l'heure (“see you later”, literally “until shortly”) or from toot.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

toodle-oo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toodle-oo

MLA

“toodle-oo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toodle-oo. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “toodle-oo,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toodle-oo.

Source: toodle-oo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.