Good Night, good morning
Even allowing for their modern linguistic curtailment, “Good Night” and “Good Morning,” remain, even at a residual level, two of the most caring, generous and hospitable phrases in the English language. Both are radical abbreviations of their once courtly and more personally-felt origins. How damaging are cutbacks!
“Good Night” really means “I wish you a good night” and, as a phrase, is as yearning and protective as a brightly lit house. What harm could possibly befall anyone retiring for the evening with such a wish handed to them like a bouquet of fresh flowers?
“Good Morning” actually means “I wish you a good morning”—a healthy, vigorous phrase as welcome as a glass of orange juice or a first cup of fresh coffee.
It’s a great shame that the First Person, the “I” that once animated these good wishes, has fallen away. Now, the Phrases “Good Morning and “Good Night” are more perfunctory than anything else. Now they are essentially rote. Expected. More punctuation than warm possibility.
