God save this cool expression, man

There is much scrutiny underway of Joe Biden‘s recent gnomic expression, ‘God save the queen, man,’ with which he ended a speech last week at a gun control gathering. Many have found this throwaway line puzzling, even disturbing, some even angered by the belief that the 80-year-old is inhabiting cuckoo-land where the old British monarch-toasting line still applies even after their queen has been replaced by a he-queen. But we believe Biden is on to a new cool form of ‘thank you-goodbye’.

Lines of greeting such as ‘Ram-Ram’, or of an au revoir like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘terminal’ tagline ‘Hasta la vista, baby’ (See you later), are scrutinised despite either literally meaning something else other than bye, or being detached from its context. They are standalone, trademark quips. Why, ‘goodbye’ itself has been unrooted from its original ‘god be with you’, as has ‘hello’, which was, in its original old high German ‘hala’, more of a hailing call – usually to a ferryman – than a standard greeting.

‘God save the queen, man’ could, in the context of this having been a gun control event, well have been a reference to the Sex Pistols‘ 1977 anti-monarchic song, ‘God save the queen’, especially since the lyrics does have ‘man’ attached to it unlike the (pre-Carolean) British national anthem. So, we’re with Joe and his new cool way of saying ciao.