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Word file #021Here to stayEveryday English

What does long time no see mean?

好久不见hǎojiǔ bú jiàn

Say itlong tyme noh SEEphrase (a greeting)

Character by character
  1. 好hǎogood (here: very)
  2. 久jiǔlong time
  3. 不búnot
  4. 见jiànsee, meet

A casual greeting you say when you meet someone you have not seen for a long time.

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

Long time no see is a friendly greeting for someone you have not seen for a long time. You might hear it from an old friend at a party, or see it in a message from a coworker who has been away for months. It does not follow normal English grammar, and that is part of its charm. Many people have heard that it comes from Chinese, where the everyday greeting 好久不见 means almost the same thing. Cambridge Dictionary gives 好久不见 as the Chinese translation [1]. Whether English really copied the Chinese phrase is still debated [2].

English speakers say long tyme noh SEE, and the strongest beats fall on “long” and “see.” People sometimes add a comma (“long time, no see”) or shorten it to LTNS in texts. Dictionaries mark it as informal [1]. It is fine with friends and coworkers, but in a formal email “It’s been a long time” is safer. In Mandarin the greeting is 好久不见 hǎojiǔ bú jiàn (traditional 好久不見), which sounds roughly like “how-jyoh boo jyen.” 不 is bù on its own but changes to a rising bú before the falling tone of 见 jiàn. In speech, 好久 also changes: when two third tones meet, the first one rises.

Word stats

Known in English
Almost every English speaker knows it, even people who never guessed it might have Chinese roots.
Said in China today
好久不见 is the normal Chinese greeting for exactly this moment, and teachers show it to beginners.
Polite
Friendly and casual. A few inclusive-language guides have flagged it, but most people use it happily. Just keep it out of formal emails.
Freshness
Searches stay about the same each year. It is a classic, not a trend, and it comes back every time someone returns from a long trip.

Spotted in the wild

Group chat · Friday, 9:40 pm
  1. Benhey all, long time no see 👋
  2. YouBEN?? where have you been for three years
  3. Benaccounting. it’s a long story
  4. Mayait’s accounting. it cannot be a long story

What it means here: Ben uses long time no see to say hello after being out of touch for years.

Work chat · Monday, 9:05 am
  1. Priyalong time, no see! how was the trip?
  2. Youamazing. my inbox is less amazing. 400 emails
  3. Priyawelcome back 😅

What it means here: Priya writes it with a comma; it is the same friendly greeting for a coworker back after weeks away.

Language exchange chat · Sunday, 4:15 pm
  1. Lin好久不见! how’s your chinese going?
  2. Yousame to you! slowly. very slowly
  3. Linwell, you already understood my first word

What it means here: Lin writes 好久不见 (hǎojiǔ bú jiàn, “very long not see”), the everyday Chinese way to say long time no see.

How to use it

  • Long time no see! (as a greeting on its own)Hey, long time no see! How have you been?
  • long time no see + a nameLong time no see, Marcus!
  • long time, no see (with a comma)Well, long time, no see. Are you still living downtown?
  • long time no talk / long time no hear (playful versions)Long time no talk! I just saw your post about the new job.
  • LTNS (in texts)ltns!! coffee this week?

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds offLong time not see!

    Say thisLong time no see!

    It is a fixed phrase with “no,” not “not.” Do not try to fix its grammar.

  • Sounds offLong time no see! (to a new client you are meeting for the first time)

    Say thisNice to meet you!

    The phrase means you have met before, just not for a long time.

  • Sounds offDear Professor Chen, long time no see.

    Say thisDear Professor Chen, I hope you have been well since we last spoke.

    Long time no see is informal. In formal writing, use a full sentence.

  • Sounds offhǎojiǔ bù jiàn, with a falling bù

    Say thishǎojiǔ bú jiàn, with a rising bú

    不 is bù on its own, but it changes to a rising bú before a falling tone like 见 jiàn.

long time no see or not?

Is each of these long time no see? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. You run into a school friend you have not seen in five years.

  2. You meet your new neighbor for the very first time.

  3. A coworker comes back after six months working abroad.

  4. You see your roommate at breakfast after talking to them last night.

The long time no see family

  • 久违了 jiǔwéi leA more formal Chinese way to say “it has been a long time.”The same greeting in a suit and tie.
  • 好久没见 hǎojiǔ méi jiànA common Chinese variant: “a long time without seeing (you).”One character changes, and the hug stays the same.
  • no can doA casual English way to say “I can’t do that.”Another phrase that skips normal grammar and gets away with it.

Where it came from

  1. 1892A short story, “Lee Hing’s Girl,” appears in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on 14 February. Its writer says twice that the phrase is “pigeon English,” meaning Chinese Pidgin English. This is the earliest example Word Histories found [3].
  2. 1894The Boston Daily Globe prints the phrase on 18 February, in a writer’s imitation of Native American speech. The Oxford English Dictionary (3rd edition, 2016) uses this as its earliest quote [3].
  3. 1900Two Westerns, William F. Drannan’s Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains and Jeff W. Hayes’s Tales of the Sierras, give the line to Native American characters. In 2014, NPR called Drannan’s book the earliest known printed use [2]. Earlier examples have since been found.
  4. TodayLong time no see is a common, casual greeting in English, and 好久不见 is the normal way to say it in Chinese.

Is long time no see really from Chinese?

Maybe. Sources agree that the phrase came from pidgin English, a simple, mixed form of English, and that it first appeared in the United States in the late 1800s. What is still open is whose pidgin English it was.

  • The Chinese idea. Word for word, 好久不见 is close to “very long not see.” 好久 hǎojiǔ is literally “good long” and means a long time, 不 means “not,” and 见 jiàn means “see” or “meet” [3]. The earliest example found so far is a short story, “Lee Hing’s Girl,” printed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1892. Its writer twice calls the phrase “pigeon English,” an old name for Chinese Pidgin English [3].
  • The Native American idea. The Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest quote is from the Boston Daily Globe in 1894, where a writer imitates Native American speech. Word Histories argues that the dictionary is wrong to point to a Native American origin [3]. NPR also notes two Westerns from 1900 where Native American characters say the line, and treats both ideas as possible [2].

So the best answer today is this. The phrase appeared in American English in the 1890s, and the earliest finds lean slightly toward Chinese Pidgin English. The word-for-word link to 好久不见 is a good guess, but it is not proven.

PointEnglish long time no seeChinese 好久不见
GrammarDoes not follow normal grammar; works as a fixed phraseNormal, correct Chinese
FeelingCasual, friendly, a little playfulNeutral and warm
Who you say it toFriends, coworkers, people you know wellAlmost anyone you have met before
Other forms“long time, no see,” LTNS好久没见 hǎojiǔ méi jiàn, 很久没见 hěnjiǔ méi jiàn, the more formal 久违了 jiǔwéi le, Cantonese 好耐冇見 hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3

Is it rude? In Chinese, no: 好久不见 is a standard greeting, and teachers show it to beginners. In English, some inclusive-language guides, including a few from US universities, have listed it as a phrase to avoid, because it may have started as a way of copying how non-native speakers talked. Many people disagree, and most speakers use it without a second thought. If you would rather skip the question, “it’s been a while” says the same thing.

Sources

  1. LONG TIME NO SEE definitionCambridge Dictionary
  2. Who First Said 'Long Time, No See' And In Which Language?NPR Code Switch, March 9, 2014
  3. Pidgin-English origin of 'long time no see'Word Histories (Pascal Tréguer), January 21, 2018

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