"so long, and thanks for all the fish" meaning in English

See so long, and thanks for all the fish in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-so long, and thanks for all the fish.wav Forms: so long and thanks for all the fish [alternative]
Etymology: From the title of a comic novel by Douglas Adams in 1984, in which it is the last message left by dolphins for humankind before escaping a doomed Earth. Head templates: {{head|en|phrase}} so long, and thanks for all the fish
  1. (humorous) Goodbye, farewell. Wikipedia link: Douglas Adams Tags: humorous
    Sense id: en-so_long,_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish-en-phrase-Zaeb94I0 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
{
  "etymology_text": "From the title of a comic novel by Douglas Adams in 1984, in which it is the last message left by dolphins for humankind before escaping a doomed Earth.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "so long and thanks for all the fish",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "so long, and thanks for all the fish",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              116,
              151
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005, Paul Grogan, Barbed Wire & Babushaks: A River Odyssey Across Siberia, London: Virgin Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 48:",
          "text": "When it was at last time to push off, he and his companion shook our hands and wished us luck, and by way of saying so long and thanks for all the fish, I gave each of them the postcards we'd had printed back in the UK",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              210,
              245
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Zac Woodall, The Rational Guide to Microsoft Office Access 2007 Templates, Rollinsford, NH: Mann Publishing Group, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 247:",
          "text": "[…] Templates” badge, which you can request by mailing a self-addressed stamped envelope filled with 100 dollar bills to me directly. Please allow 52-104 weeks for processing and delivery. That's all there is. So long and thanks for all the fish.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              89,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2008, Bella Vendramini, Biting the Big Apple, Sydney, N.S.W.: Hachette Livre Australia, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 314:",
          "text": "I pursed my lips and blew a kiss out into the New York air to mingle with the cab fumes. 'So long, and thanks for all the fish, beautiful, beautiful New York.'",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              57,
              93
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2013, Chris Kluwe, Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies: On Myths, Morons, Free Speech, Football, and Assorted Absurdities, New York: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 252:",
          "text": "I lived my life, people, and I expect you to live yours. So long, and thanks for all the fish!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              35
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2015, Elanor Wood, My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend, London: Macmillan, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 266:",
          "text": "So long and thanks for all the fish (I don't even know what that means but I heard it somewhere once and it feels right). Yours sincerely, Tuesday Cooper",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Goodbye, farewell."
      ],
      "id": "en-so_long,_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish-en-phrase-Zaeb94I0",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "Goodbye",
          "goodbye"
        ],
        [
          "farewell",
          "farewell"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(humorous) Goodbye, farewell."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Douglas Adams"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-so long, and thanks for all the fish.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/aa/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/aa/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "so long, and thanks for all the fish"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "From the title of a comic novel by Douglas Adams in 1984, in which it is the last message left by dolphins for humankind before escaping a doomed Earth.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "so long and thanks for all the fish",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "so long, and thanks for all the fish",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English humorous terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms coined by Douglas Adams",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              116,
              151
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2005, Paul Grogan, Barbed Wire & Babushaks: A River Odyssey Across Siberia, London: Virgin Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 48:",
          "text": "When it was at last time to push off, he and his companion shook our hands and wished us luck, and by way of saying so long and thanks for all the fish, I gave each of them the postcards we'd had printed back in the UK",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              210,
              245
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Zac Woodall, The Rational Guide to Microsoft Office Access 2007 Templates, Rollinsford, NH: Mann Publishing Group, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 247:",
          "text": "[…] Templates” badge, which you can request by mailing a self-addressed stamped envelope filled with 100 dollar bills to me directly. Please allow 52-104 weeks for processing and delivery. That's all there is. So long and thanks for all the fish.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              89,
              126
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2008, Bella Vendramini, Biting the Big Apple, Sydney, N.S.W.: Hachette Livre Australia, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 314:",
          "text": "I pursed my lips and blew a kiss out into the New York air to mingle with the cab fumes. 'So long, and thanks for all the fish, beautiful, beautiful New York.'",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              57,
              93
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2013, Chris Kluwe, Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies: On Myths, Morons, Free Speech, Football, and Assorted Absurdities, New York: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 252:",
          "text": "I lived my life, people, and I expect you to live yours. So long, and thanks for all the fish!",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              35
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2015, Elanor Wood, My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend, London: Macmillan, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 266:",
          "text": "So long and thanks for all the fish (I don't even know what that means but I heard it somewhere once and it feels right). Yours sincerely, Tuesday Cooper",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Goodbye, farewell."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "Goodbye",
          "goodbye"
        ],
        [
          "farewell",
          "farewell"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(humorous) Goodbye, farewell."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "humorous"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Douglas Adams"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-so long, and thanks for all the fish.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/aa/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/aa/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-so_long%2C_and_thanks_for_all_the_fish.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "so long, and thanks for all the fish"
}

Download raw JSONL data for so long, and thanks for all the fish meaning in English (3.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-08-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-07-20 using wiktextract (ed078bd and 3c020d2). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.