With little meaning. "Stay Safe" Its normally when TV interviewers here in the UK are talking to someone in the middle of a war zone ( Ukraine) and they finish off by saying that. How do you stay safe in a war zone?
We are told to stay safe from covid, and now the warm weather?
I only really recall 'stay safe' coming to life during covid. I thought it was a bit icky at first but now it rolls off the tongue almost without a thought.
Long ago I promised to throttle the next person who said that to me! Unfortunately, my daughter just ended a phone call to me with that phrase and she lives 50 miles away so I can't suit the action to the words.
It's a sort of catch-all shortcut for showing virtue and caring. Saves real involvement.
I'd probably wish a guest a safe journey if they were leaving to drive home, but then I'd know the person well.
'Fare thee well' is a nice idea. You'd have to think about saying that. I might swap to 'farewell'.
I am bemused when I leave a relative's home 100 miles or so from where I live - he always tells me to ring him to let him know I got home safely.
He doesn't worry about my driving any other time.
It's a wish, rather than advice or an instruction.
When you wish someone 'Good morning ...' - it's just that, a hope that the person has a good morning, when of course, you will have no idea if they will or not.
It's simply part of the human interaction that smooths the way, and it doesn't have to be taken literally, just in the spirit in which it is offered.