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About "Long time no see"

'Long Time No See' is an informal, friendly greeting expressing that a considerable amount of time has passed since the speaker and addressee last encountered each other, conveying both acknowledgment of the time gap and pleasure at the reunion. According to linguistic research documented by the American Dialect Society and Oxford English Dictionary, this phrase represents a fascinating example of language contact and borrowing, likely originating as a literal word-for-word translation from Chinese Pidgin English or possibly from Native American languages into English, preserving the grammatical structure of the source language rather than following standard English grammar rules. The phrase's ungrammatical structure in English ('Long time, no see' rather than 'I haven't seen you in a long time') actually enhances its memorability and gives it a distinctive, casual character that has made it enduringly popular in informal American English since at least the early 20th century. Sociolinguists study 'long time no see' as an example of how non-standard grammatical constructions can become widely adopted when they efficiently communicate meaning and carry social or cultural associations that speakers find appealing. The phrase appears throughout American popular culture in movies, television, literature, and everyday conversation, transcending its uncertain origins to become a standard informal greeting recognized globally. Communication researchers note that such informal greetings serve important social functions: they acknowledge relationships, express pleasure at reunion, and re-establish social connections that may have lapsed during periods of non-contact. The expression's persistence and popularity demonstrate language's democratic nature, where useful, efficient, and emotionally resonant expressions can succeed regardless of whether they follow formal grammatical rules, and how language contact and cultural exchange enrich linguistic diversity by introducing new forms and structures into evolving languages. Sources: Oxford Dictionary - Long Time No See Etymology, American Dialect Society - Language Contact.