Boy Band Teaches us the Meaning of Bye, By, Buy

In the year 2000, screaming teenage girls could buy the hit song “Bye Bye Bye” by the boy band, ‘N Sync. (In case you don’t remember the song, click here.)

Did you see what happened in that sentence? There were three different spellings for a word that sounds exactly the same! However, those different spellings give each word a very different meaning.

The word “buy” means to purchase. If you wanted to buy ‘N Sync’s CD, you could buy it on Amazon or iTunes for a few dollars.

www.vinylvendors.com

The word “bye” means to say farewell. The lyrics of ‘N Sync’s song say, “I know that I can’t take no more, Ain’t no lie I want to see you out that door, Baby bye bye bye.” Whoever they are singing this song about, they no longer want to have this person in their life, so they are saying farewell or goodbye to them.

The word “by” has several meanings. It could mean near (e.g. I live by the shopping center.); or beyond (e.g. He drove by the college.); or the means of getting through or along (e.g. She came to America by boat.). In our music example, the song “by the boy band, N’ Sync” means the band wrote the song.  

Thanks for reading this blog. Bye!