long time no see

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Uncertain. Possibly a calque of Cantonese 好耐冇見 /好耐冇见 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3), Mandarin 很久沒見 /很久没见 (hěnjiǔméijiàn), Mandarin 好久不見 /好久不见 (hǎojiǔbùjiàn), or similar expressions in other Chinese varieties, comparable to no can do or chop-chop – if so, most likely US Chinatown origin, or, 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).

87 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: لَم أَرَكَ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل (lam ʔaraka munḏu waqt ṭawīl) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Arabic: لَم أَرَكِ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل (lam ʔaraki munḏu waqt ṭawīl) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Arabic: لَم نَرَكَ مُنْذُ مُدَّة (lam naraka munḏu mudda) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܢ ܟܡܐ ܥܕܢܐ ܠܐ ܝܘܚ ܚܙܝܐ ܥܘܕܠܐ (min kma ʿdana le ìwaḳ ḳizye ʿudale) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Belarusian: даўно́ не ба́чыліся (dawnó nje báčylisja) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Bulgarian: откога не сме се виждали (otkoga ne sme se viždali) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Catalan: quant de temps — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Chinese Cantonese: 好久不見 /好久不见 (hou2 gau2 bat1 gin3) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Chinese Cantonese: 好耐冇見 /好耐冇见 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Hakka Chinese: 好久冇見 /好久冇见 (hó-kiú-mò-kien, hó-kiú-mò-kian) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Hakka Chinese: 恁久無看著 /恁久无看著 (án kiú mò khon-tó) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Chinese: 真久無看 /真久无看 (chin kú bô khòan) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Chinese Mandarin: 好久不見 /好久不见 (hǎojiǔbujiàn) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Chinese Mandarin: 很久沒見 /很久没见 (hěnjiǔměijiàn) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Wu Chinese: 長遠勿見 /长远勿见 — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Chinese Pidgin English: long time no see — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Czech: dlouho jsme se neviděli — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Danish: længe siden — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Dutch: lang niet gezien — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Esperanto: delonge mi ne vidis vin — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Estonian: pole ammu näinud — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Finnish: pitkästä aikaa — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• French: ça fait longtemps qu'on ne s'est pas vu ! — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• French: ça fait longtemps ! — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• French: ça fait un bail ! — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Garo: nikgijaan ru·utjok — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• German: lange nicht gesehen — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Greek: χρόνια και ζαμάνια (chrónia kai zamánia) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Hebrew: מזמן לא התראנו (mizman lo hitra'enu) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Hindi: बहुत समय से देखा नहीं (bahut samay se dekhā nahī̃) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Hungarian: ezer éve nem láttalak — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Hungarian: rég láttalak — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Hungarian: rég nem láttalak — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Icelandic: langt síðan við höfum sést — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Indonesian: lama tidak berjumpa — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Irish: is fada ná faca thú — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Italian: da quanto tempo! — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Italian: ne è passato di tempo — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Jamaican Creole: long time mi nuh see yuh — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Jamaican Creole: mi think yuh did dead — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Japanese: 久しぶり (hisashiburi) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Japanese: お久しぶりです (o-hisashiburi desu) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Korean: 오래간만입니다 (oraeganmanimnida) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Korean: 오랜만 (oraenman) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Korean: 오랜만이에요 (oraenmanieyo) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Kumyk: сизин гёрмегеним кёп бола (sizin görmegenim köp bola) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Lithuanian: seniai matytas — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Lithuanian: seniai matyta — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Lithuanian: šimtas metų! — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Malay: lama tak jumpa — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Mongolian: уулзалгүй удлаа (uulzalgüj udlaa) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Navajo: ałkʼidą́ą́ʼ tʼáá niiłtsą́ą́ ńtʼééʼ — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Norwegian Bokmål: lenge siden sist — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Norwegian Nynorsk: lenge sidan sist — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Persian: مشتاق دیدار — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Polish: dawno się nie widzieliśmy — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Polish: kopę lat — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Portuguese: há quanto tempo — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Russenorsk: mangoli år moja njet smotrom tvoja — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Russian: давно́ не ви́делись (davnó ne vídelisʹ) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Russian: ско́лько лет, ско́лько зим (skólʹko let, skólʹko zim) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Scottish Gaelic: 's fhada bhon uair sin — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Serbo-Croatian: dugo se nismo vidjeli — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: cuánto tiempo — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: cuánto tiempo sin verte — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: tanto tiempo sin vernos — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: dichosos los ojos que te ven — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: a los años — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: hace tiempo que no nos vemos — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: hace mucho que no te veo — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: añales sin verte — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: añares sin vernos — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: añales que no te veo — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: añares que no nos vemos — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Spanish: dichosos los ojos — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Swedish: det var inte i går — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Tamil: பார்த்து ரொம்ப நாளாச்சு (pārttu rompa nāḷāccu) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Thai: ไม่ได้พบกันนาน (mâi dâi póp-gan naan) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Turkish: görüşmeyeli uzun zaman oldu — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Ukrainian: давно́ не ба́чились (davnó ne báčylysʹ) — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Vietnamese: lâu quá không gặp — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Vietnamese: lâu rồi không gặp — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Vietnamese: lâu ngày không gặp — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Welsh: sut mae ers talwm — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Yoruba: kú ọjọ́ mẹ́ta — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Yoruba: kú àtijọ́ — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
• Yoruba: ó tọ́jọ́ mẹ́ta — idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time