Long time no see

Etymology

Two primary etymological explanations exist:The expression might be derived from Native American Pidgin English, as close variations of the expression appear in at least two novels from 1900, both attributed to Native American characters.

Alternatively, it might be a calque of the Mandarin Chinese phrase 好久不见 (pinyin: hǎojiǔbújiàn; ), 'very long no see'. In Cantonese, the phrase 好耐冇見 (pronounced: hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3) has the same structure as in Mandarin.

Origin in literature

The phrase was first recorded, though not as a greeting, in the 1843 publication by James Campbell, titled Excursions, Adventures, and Field-Sports in Ceylon: "Ma-am—long time no see wife—want go to Colombo see wife."

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the phrase appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe in 1892, spoken by a woman who, in speaking to a man of Chinese descent, "from constant association had..fallen into the habit of talking pigeon[sic] English to the Chinamen", stating "Maybe. I think I go see my mamma to-day. Long time no see."

Interestingly, only two years later, in an 1894 piece once again in the Boston Daily Globe, the phrase was used in the context of a Native American speaker, in the phraseology of "Come to my tepee. Long time no see. Plenty game in mountains. We kill deer and bear."

Subsequently, as the phrase gained in popularity around the turn of the century, it was found in the 1900 Western entitled Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West, by author W. F. Drannan, which recorded a Native American man greeting the narrator by saying, "Good morning. Long time no see you."

References

References

1. "Definition of 'LTNS'".
2. (1892). "long time no see (P.3.I)". [[Oxford English Dictionary]].
3. 3-540-37334-9.
4. Gandhi, Lakshmi. (2014). "Who First Said 'Long Time, No See' And In Which Language?". NPR.
5. Campbell, James (1843). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=s0w9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA254 Excursions, Adventures, and Field-Sports in ][[Ceylon]]; Its Commercial and Military Importance, and Numerous Advantages to the British Emigrant'', Vol. 1, p. 254. London: T. and W. Boone.