[Ads-l] Long time no see.
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sat Oct 10 19:10:12 UTC 2020
OED: 1894.
1878 _Carson Daily Appeal_ (Carson City, Nev.) (Aug. 16) 4: "Long time no
see him," says the noble red man.
Undoubtedly the phrase arose in white-native pidgin.
I believe in later years "no see him" would be written as "no see 'um."
--
JL
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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