What Does “Welcome in” Mean?
If we greet with “welcome in” should we also say “goodbye out”?
It seems lately that more and more people are using “Welcome in” as a greeting — and I don’t get it.
In the last six months or so, I’ve noticed that several show hosts on the news channels I watch were saying it to their guests.
“To bloviate on the subject further is expert John Smith. John, welcome in.”
Why not just “Welcome”? Or even, “Welcome to the show”?
Then I noticed that some of my friends and colleagues were doing it on Zoom as they admit people to meetings. And this week, the receptionist in a medical office greeted me with, “Welcome in. I’ll be right with you.”
Again, my question is: Why not just say “Welcome”? And what does “welcome in” even mean?
According to Merriam-Webster, “welcome” is defined as “to greet hospitably and with courtesy or cordiality.” The word “in” is defined as “expressing the situation of something that is or appears to be enclosed or surrounded by something else.”
To say, “You are welcome in my home” makes sense to me. To use “welcome in” as a greeting…
