long time no see

English

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly a calque of Cantonese 好耐冇見／好耐冇见 (hou² noi⁶ mou⁵ gin³), comparable to no can do or chop-chop – if so, most likely US Chinatown origin, alternatively British Far East such as Hong Kong. Alternatively, native American origin, or native coinage as pidgin, particularly in cinematic portrayals of native Americans; compare language used by Tonto (1930s).

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Interjection

long time no see

1. (idiomatic) I (or we) have not seen you for a long time.

   Dave! Long time no see! How’s Boston been treating you?

   • 1843, James Campbell, Excursions, Adventures, and Field-sports in Ceylon: Its Commercial and Military Importance, and Numerous Advantages to the British Emigrant, volume 1, London: T. and W. Boone, page 256:

     This lady had only assumed the reins of government a short time, when one morning Appoo made his appearance.—"Ma-am—long time no see wife—want go to Colombo see wife.[...]"

   • 1892, William Norr, Stories of Chinatown: Sketches from Life in the Chinese Colony of Mott, Pell and Doyers Streets, New York: William Norr, page 16:

     "Maybe. I think I go see my mamma today. Long time no see," answered Mamie, who from constant association had, like the other girls of the neighborhood, fallen into the habit of talking pigeon English to the Chinamen.

   • 1899, William F. Drannan, Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains or, the Last Voice from the Plains, Chicago: Rhodes & McClure, page 515:

     When we were close enough, I could see that he had a smile on his face, and I knew that he had recognized me. When we rode up to him he said: "Good morning. Long time no see you," and at the same time presented the gun with the breech foremost.

Derived terms

• long time no hear

Descendants

• →⇒ Cebuano: long time no see but now, sinaw

Translations

idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time

• Arabic: (to a male) لَم أَرَكَ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل (lam ʔaraka munḏu waqt ṭawīl), (to a female) لَم أَرَكِ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل (lam ʔaraki munḏu waqt ṭawīl), لَم نَرَكَ مُنْذُ مُدَّة (lam naraka munḏu mudda)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܢ ܟܡܐ ܥܕܢܐ ܠܐ ܝܘܚ ܚܙܝܐ ܥܘܕܠܐ (min kma ʿdana le ìwaḳ ḳizye ʿudale)
• Belarusian: даўно́ не ба́чыліся (daŭnó nje báčylisja)
• Bulgarian: откога не сме се виждали (otkoga ne sme se viždali)
• Catalan: quant de temps
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 好久不見／好久不见 (hou² gau² bat¹ gin³) (formal writing), 好耐冇見／好耐冇见 (hou² noi⁶ mou⁵ gin³) (vernacular)

  Hakka: 好久冇見／好久冇见 (hó-kiú-mò-kien, hó-kiú-mò-kian), 恁久無看著／恁久无看著 (án kiú mò khon-tó)

  Hokkien: 真久無看／真久无看 (chin kú bô khòaⁿ)

  Mandarin: 好久不見／好久不见 (zh) (hǎojiǔbujiàn), 很久沒見／很久没见 (hěnjiǔměijiàn)

  Wu: 長遠勿見／长远勿见

• Chinese Pidgin English: long time no see
• Czech: dlouho jsme se neviděli
• Danish: længe siden
• Dutch: lang niet gezien
• Esperanto: delonge mi ne vidis vin
• Estonian: pole ammu näinud
• Finnish: pitkästä aikaa
• French: ça fait longtemps qu’on ne s’est pas vu !, ça fait longtemps !, ça fait un bail !
• Garo: nikgijaan ru·utjok
• German: lange nicht gesehen
• Greek: χρόνια και ζαμάνια (el) (chrónia kai zamánia)
• Hebrew: מזמן לא התראנו (mizman lo hitra'enu)
• Hindi: बहुत समय से देखा नहीं (bahut samay se dekhā nahī̃)
• Hungarian: ezer éve nem láttalak, rég láttalak (hu), rég nem láttalak (hu)
• Icelandic: langt síðan við höfum sést
• Ido: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: lama tidak berjumpa
• Irish: is fada ná faca thú (Munster)
• Italian: da quanto tempo!, ne è passato di tempo
• Jamaican Creole: long time mi nuh see yuh, mi think yuh did dead
• Japanese: 久しぶり (ja) (ひさしぶり, hisashiburi), お久しぶりです (o-hisashiburi desu)
• Korean: (formal, polite) 오래간만입니다 (ko) (oraeganmanimnida), (informal, non polite) 오랜만 (ko) (oraenman), (informal polite) 오랜만이에요 (ko) (oraenmanieyo)
• Kumyk: сизин гёрмегеним кёп бола (sizin görmegenim köp bola)
• Lithuanian: (informal) seniai matytas m, (informal) seniai matyta f, (informal) šimtas metų! (literally “it's been a hundred years”)
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: уулзалгүй удлаа (uulzalgüj udlaa)
• Navajo: ałkʼidą́ą́ʼ tʼáá niiłtsą́ą́ ńtʼééʼ
• Norwegian:

  Norwegian Bokmål: lenge siden sist

• Persian: مشتاق دیدار (مدت زیادی بود ندیده بودمت)
• Polish: dawno się nie widzieliśmy, (idiomatic) kopę lat!
• Portuguese: há quanto tempo
• Russenorsk: mangoli år moja njet smotrom tvoja
• Russian: давно́ не ви́делись (davnó ne vídelisʹ), ско́лько лет, ско́лько зим (skólʹko let, skólʹko zim)
• Scottish Gaelic: 's fhada bhon uair sin
• Serbo-Croatian: dugo se nismo vidjeli
• Spanish: ¡cuánto tiempo!, ¡tanto tiempo sin verte!, dichosos los ojos que te ven
• Swedish: det var inte i går
• Tamil: பார்த்து ரொம்ப நாளாச்சு (pārttu rompa nāḷāccu)
• Thai: ไม่ได้พบกันนาน (mâi dâi póp-gan naan)
• Turkish: görüşmeyeli uzun zaman oldu
• Ukrainian: давно́ не ба́чились (davnó ne báčylysʹ)
• Urdu: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: lâu quá không gặp, lâu rồi không gặp
• Welsh: sut mae ers talwm
• Yoruba: kú ọjọ́ mẹ́ta, kú àtijọ́, ó tọ́jọ́ mẹ́ta