Meanings
interjection
alternative long time, no see
- idiomaticI (or we) have not seen you for a long time.
Dave! Long time no see! How’s Boston been treating you?
3 more examples
This lady had only assumed the reins of government a short time, when one morning Appoo made his appearance.—"Ma-am—long time no see wife—want go to Colombo see wife.[...]"
1843, James Campbell, Excursions, Adventures, and Field-sports in Ceylon: Its Commercial and Military Importance, and Numerous Advantages to the British Emigrant, volume 1, London: T. and W. Boone, page 256"Maybe. I think I go see my mamma today. Long time no see," answered Mamie, who from constant association had, like the other girls of the neighborhood, fallen into the habit of talking pigeon English to the Chinamen.
1892, William Norr, Stories of Chinatown: Sketches from Life in the Chinese Colony of Mott, Pell and Doyers Streets, New York: William Norr, page 16When we were close enough, I could see that he had a smile on his face, and I knew that he had recognized me. When we rode up to him he said: "Good morning. Long time no see you," and at the same time presented the gun with the breech foremost.
1899, William F. Drannan, Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains or, the Last Voice from the Plains, Chicago: Rhodes & McClure, page 515
Origin
- Mandarin好久不見 /好久不见
- Mandarin很久沒見 /很久没见
- Cantonese好耐冇見 /好耐冇见
- Englishlong time no see
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).
More words from Cantonese, Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic لَم أَرَكَ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل, لَم أَرَكِ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل
- لَم أَرَكَ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل (lam ʔaraka munḏu waqt ṭawīl)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- لَم أَرَكِ مُنْذُ وَقْت طَوِيل (lam ʔaraki munḏu waqt ṭawīl)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- لَم نَرَكَ مُنْذُ مُدَّة (lam naraka munḏu mudda)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Bulgarian откога не сме се виждали
- 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
- quant de tempsidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Chinese Cantonese 好久不見 /好久不见, 好耐冇見 /好耐冇见
- 好久不見 /好久不见 (hou² gau² bat¹ gin³)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- 好耐冇見 /好耐冇见 (hou² noi⁶ mou⁵ gin³)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Chinese Mandarin 好久不見 /好久不见, 很久沒見 /很久没见
- 好久不見 /好久不见 (hǎojiǔbujiàn)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- 很久沒見 /很久没见 (hěnjiǔměijiàn)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Czech dlouho jsme se neviděli
- dlouho jsme se neviděliidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Danish længe siden
- længe sidenidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Dutch lang niet gezien
- lang niet gezienidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Esperanto delonge mi ne vidis vin
- delonge mi ne vidis vinidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Estonian pole ammu näinud
- pole ammu näinudidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Finnish pitkästä aikaa
- pitkästä aikaaidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
French ça fait longtemps qu'on ne s'est pas vu !, ça fait longtemps !
- ça fait longtemps qu'on ne s'est pas vu !idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- ça fait longtemps !idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- ça fait un bail !idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
German lange nicht gesehen
- lange nicht gesehenidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Greek χρόνια και ζαμάνια, σαν τα χιόνια
- χρόνια και ζαμάνια (chrónia kai zamánia)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- σαν τα χιόνια (san ta chiónia)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Hebrew מזמן לא התראנו
- 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
- 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, rég láttalak
- ezer éve nem láttalakidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- rég láttalakidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- rég nem láttalakidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Icelandic langt síðan við höfum sést
- langt síðan við höfum séstidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Indonesian lama tidak berjumpa
- lama tidak berjumpaidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Irish is fada ná faca thú
- is fada ná faca thúidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Italian da quanto tempo!, ne è passato di tempo
- da quanto tempo!idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- ne è passato di tempoidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Japanese 久しぶり, お久しぶりです
- 久しぶり (hisashiburi)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- お久しぶりです (o-hisashiburi desu)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Korean 오래간만입니다, 오랜만
- 오래간만입니다 (oraeganmanimnida)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- 오랜만 (oraenman)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- 오랜만이에요 (oraenmanieyo)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Lithuanian seniai matytas, seniai matyta
- seniai matytasidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- seniai matytaidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- šimtas metų!idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Malay lama tak jumpa
- lama tak jumpaidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Norwegian Bokmål lenge siden sist
- lenge siden sistidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Persian مشتاق دیدار
- مشتاق دیدارidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Polish dawno się nie widzieliśmy, kopę lat
- dawno się nie widzieliśmyidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- kopę latidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Portuguese há quanto tempo
- há quanto tempoidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Russian давно́ не ви́делись, ско́лько лет, ско́лько зим
- давно́ не ви́делись (davnó ne vídelisʹ)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- 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
- 's fhada bhon uair sinidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Spanish cuánto tiempo, cuánto tiempo sin verte
- cuánto tiempoidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- cuánto tiempo sin verteidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- tanto tiempo sin vernosidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- dichosos los ojos que te venidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- a los añosidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- hace tiempo que no nos vemosidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- hace mucho que no te veoidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- añales sin verteidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- añares sin vernosidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- añales que no te veoidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- añares que no nos vemosidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- dichosos los ojosidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Swedish det var inte i går
- det var inte i gåridiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Tamil பார்த்து ரொம்ப நாளாச்சு
- பார்த்து ரொம்ப நாளாச்சு (pārttu rompa nāḷāccu)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Thai ไม่ได้พบกันนาน
- ไม่ได้พบกันนาน (mâi dâi póp-gan naan)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Turkish görüşmeyeli uzun zaman oldu
- görüşmeyeli uzun zaman olduidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Ukrainian давно́ не ба́чились
- давно́ не ба́чились (davnó ne báčylysʹ)idiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Vietnamese lâu quá không gặp, lâu rồi không gặp
- lâu quá không gặpidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- lâu rồi không gặpidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
- lâu ngày không gặpidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Welsh sut mae ers talwm
- sut mae ers talwmidiomatic: I (or we) have not seen you for a long time
Cite this entry
APA
long time no see. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20time%20no%20see
MLA
“long time no see.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20time%20no%20see. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “long time no see,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/long%20time%20no%20see.
Source: long time no see on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.