I was wondering if there is some sort of complete list of what "have a good one" can commonly mean. As the answers to this question imply, it can mean "have a good day!" or "have a nice weekend!", always as a form of saying goodbye to someone.
But would it also be acceptable for longer time ranges? For example, if someone says "Happy New Year!", can I reply "Thanks! You too, have a good one!" or simply say to someone off on vacations "have a good one!"?
Merriam-Webster says:
Definition of have a good one
US, informal
—used to say one hopes the
person spoken to will have an enjoyable day
So, my question is: Does "have a good one" need to be restricted to a single day, as in "have a good day!"? Or can it be used for longer periods? (the answers here also suggest that it should be confined to a single day)
EDIT: Thank you for the answers! But I'm having a hard time picking the definitive one, since they rather contradict each other. Maybe different regions use it differently and there's no single answer? (I'm also curious to know what people from other native speaking countries, like England or Canada, would think of this)
Best Answer
It's all depends on 'context'.
Sometimes we use "have a good one" for a single day (good day)
and sometimes for a longer duration. (Have a good one" [trip])
Let's say you tell me you're going on vacation next week. I say oh wow I'm not going to see you until the end of January. When we finish talking, I say to you "have a good one" I'm telling you to have a good vacation because I won't see you until after you have returned. [think of until we meet again]
A really common use for it is for people who don't know each other very well. They don't know if they'll ever see the person again (but they don't want to say that) so they say "have a good one" (with whatever it is you're going to be doing after I leave you).
So, if I just meet you and we had a short discussion on grammar and it's just ended I'm going to say to you "have a good one" [I don't know you and I don't know what you're going to do after because we didn't talk about that. So it's like saying okay, good luck and enjoy what it is that you're going to be doing now.]
In reference to your question: Most of the time it is used for shorter periods of time but it can also be used for longer periods of time. But it all depends on 'context'.