We always need to be careful with direct translations. I'm not sure what good it is to say "Paz fuera" if you're the only person in the Americas that is saying it. If the students like it, the students like it. However, if nobody else is using it, what is the point?
In Costa Rica, by far the most common farewell is "¡Pura vida!". The same expression is used for hello, thank you, you are welcome, wow, etc. "Chao" or "chau" for goodbye is common here as it is in many Spanish speaking countries. (Yes, it's used in Brazil too, but it's spelled "tchau" because of the soft "ch" sound in Portuguese.) It comes from Italian, of course. Italians use it for hello and goodbye. It is a corruption for the word slave. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I assume it was once used to convey the idea "I am your slave". something like "a la orden" or "a sus órdenes".
Several weeks ago I read a post about "dude". The local counterparts are "mae" (comes from "maje") and "primo" (I've heard "primazo" too). "Von" (comes from "huevón") has lost its popularity. Once no conversation was complete without calling someone "von".
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