long time no see

English

Etymology

Unknown. Attested US 1901,[1] presented as pidgin English by a Native American. Possibly a calque of Cantonese, comparable to no can do or chop-chop – if so, most likely US Chinatown origin, alternatively British Far East such as Hong Kong.[2] Alternatively, native American origin, or native coinage as pidgin, particularly in cinematic portrayals of native Americans;[2] compare language used by Tonto (1930s).

Interjection

long time no see

(idiomatic) I (or we) have not seen you for a long time.
Dave! Long time no see! How’s Boston been treating you?
- 1901, W. F. Drannan, Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains:
  Good morning. Long time no see you.

Derived terms

long time no hear

Translations

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

Arabic: (to a male) لَم أَرَكَ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل‎ (lam ʾaraka munḏu waqt ṭawīl), (to a female) لَم أَرَكِ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل‎ (lam ʾaraki munḏu waqt ṭawīl), لَم نَرَكَ مُنْذُ مُدَّة‎ (lam naraka munḏu mudda)
Belarusian: даўно́ не ба́чыліся (daŭnó nje báčylisja)
Bulgarian: откога не сме се виждали (otkoga ne sme se viždali)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 好久不見 (hou² gau² bat¹ gin³) (formal writing), 好耐冇見 (hou² noi⁶ mou⁵ gin³) (vernacular)

Mandarin: 好久不見 (zh), 好久不见 (zh) (hǎojiǔbujiàn), 很久沒見, 很久没见 (hěnjiǔměijiàn)
Czech: dlouho jsme se neviděli
Danish: længe siden
Dutch: lang niet gezien
Esperanto: delonge mi ne vidis vin
Finnish: pitkästä aikaa
French: ça fait longtemps qu'on ne s'est pas vu !, ça fait longtemps !, ça fait un bail !
German: lange nicht gesehen
Hebrew: מזמן לא התראנו‎ (mizman lo hitra'enu)
Hindi: बहुत समय से देखा नहीं (bahut samay se dekhā nahī̃)
Hungarian: ezer éve nem láttalak
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!

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)
Lithuanian: (informal) seniai matytas m, (informal) seniai matyta f, (informal, lit. "(it's been 100 years)") šimtas metų!
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
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
Russian: давно́ не ви́делись (davnó ne vídelisʹ), ско́лько лет, ско́лько зим (skólʹko let, skólʹko zim)
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)
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

References

Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
Partridge, Eric, and Beale, Paul (2002). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, p. 1386. Routledge. →ISBN, →ISBN.

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[1] Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

[partridgebeale-2] Partridge, Eric, and Beale, Paul (2002). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, p. 1386. Routledge. →ISBN, →ISBN.