Long time no see
Posted by R. Berg on March 03, 2002
In Reply to: Long time no see posted by Marian on March 03, 2002
: I hear this phrase occasionally and use it myself to express pleasure at seeing someone that I've not seen for some time. I wonder if it's in widespread use and whether the origin is known.
Very widespread use, and yes. Eric Partridge, Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day:
"Since the early 1900s. In Brit. usage, it derives from
Far East, specifically Chinese, pidgin; it came to UK by way of the Merchant Service,
reinforced by the RN. . . . It is in fact a literal translation of a very common
Chinese greeting, 'hao jiu mei jian.'
The US and Can. use of the phrase prob.
comes from the same source but has been strongly influenced by two or three very
widely distributed popular anecdotes. . . . The oldest printed record I have of
it is afforded by Harry C. Witwer's 'Love and Learn,' 1924 (p. 73). Perhaps slightly
on the wane since c. 1972. Nevertheless, this is one of the most widely used of
all c.pp. whatsoever, despite the fact that many of us find it tiresome.
The
US currency goes back to the late C19, to judge by the fact that the 'OED New
Supp.' can cite a Red Indian as saying 'Long time no see you'. . . . There have
been Chinese living and working up and down the West Coast of North America since
the Gold Rush days of mid C19, and before."
- Long time no see masakim 03/03/02