long time no see

long time no see idiom
It's been a long time since we met, as in Hi Bob! Long time no see. This jocular imitation of broken English originated in the pidgin English used in Chinese and Western exchange. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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