One of the famous songs by Mayumi Itsuwa (五輪 真弓) is by the name さよならだけは言わないで I
can't find a good translation of the name on a webpage but Google Translate
suggests it means "Do not say only goodbye" and iTunes spells out the song as
"Sayonaradakewa Iwanaide" as the pronunciation. Does the name of this song
mean "don't only say goodbye (to me)"?
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2015-07-20T22:24:18.403
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2015-07-21T15:50:00.243
2015-07-20T22:29:18.947
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question
translation
Does "さよならだけは言わないで" mean "don't only say goodbye" or "don't say goodbye"?
The last thing I want to do is compete with Google Translate, but "he" is
wrong again.

It means " ** _Say anything but 'good-bye'_**."

> 「～～だけは + Verb in negative form」

is a common expression meaning:

> "(Verb) anything but ~~"

「ピーマン **だけは** 食{た}べられ **ません** 。」 = "I can eat anything but green peppers."

「マリアと **だけは** 結婚{けっこん}したく **ない** 。」 = "I would marry anybody but Maria."

Because this is such a useful expression, I will close by saying:

> 「この表現{ひょうげん} **だけは** 忘{わす}れ **ない** でください！」 = "Forget anything but this
> expression, please!"
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2015-07-20T22:30:59.367
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2015-07-21T15:50:00.243
2015-07-21T15:50:00.243
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answer