Idiom
Long time no see.
An informal greeting used when meeting someone after a long period of not seeing them.
Meanings
An informal greeting used upon meeting someone you have not seen for a long period.
Definition
This is a friendly, informal expression used as a greeting when you encounter someone you haven't seen for a considerable amount of time. It conveys a sense of pleasant surprise and happiness at the reunion. Although its grammatical structure is unusual, it is a very common and widely accepted idiom in English.
Examples
- Walking into the café, Sarah spotted her old college friend and exclaimed, "Long time no see, Mark!"
- When we finally reunited at the family gathering, my cousin hugged me and said, "Long time no see! How have you been?"
- After ten years, the former colleagues bumped into each other at a conference. "Well, long time no see!" one of them remarked with a smile.
- My neighbor, who had been away traveling, greeted me with a cheerful "Long time no see!" when she returned.
Common mistake
Learners sometimes mistakenly think this phrase is grammatically incorrect due to its unusual structure, but it is a widely accepted and natural-sounding idiom.
Learn this in a path
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