By kaandle
"Tschuss" is to Germans what "Ciao" is to Italians. This word was one of the first I learned (and actually remembered) this semester and three months later it remains among my favorites. Although my German abilities are far from advanced, being able to throw out a colloquial phrase makes me feel like I can pull of my Berliner status a little bit better. Even if my German professor hadn't taught us this word early in the semester, it'd be impossible to not pick up this phrase as it's said everywhere from parting with friends to leaving a store.
Pronounced "choo-se" it's a causal way of saying "bye" or "see you later". When leaving a store, it also suffices as a "thank you" and "bye" simultaneously. If you're more of a "bye-bye" person tschuss can also be pronounced "choo-see", although be warned its mostly 15 year old girls running around with this pronunciation.
As much as I like the word tschuss, I must admit I was disappointed "auf Wiedersehen" wasn't a common phrase. Coming to Germany auf Wiedersehen was my only non-food related German saying - mostly thanks to The Sound of Music - but imagine my surprise when I learned auf Wiedersehen is pretty much only said in very formal situations or Bavaria in southern Germany. But at the end of the day tschuss is significantly easier for me to pronounce correctly and tends to roll of the tongue. Of all the German words that have become everyday vocabulary tschuss is more than likely one that will subconsciously follow me back to the United States.