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It seems like it's not, because there were no negative statement before "and", after which goes future "will". I could surely write something like "Haven't seen each other for a long time", but that's way too long. In my case I want to preserve the simplicity and shortness of this expression, which I'm not sure if I can use.

The intention is that we haven’t met for a long time and that there would be no opportunity to meet in the future, not that I don’t want to see the other person again.

Lawrence
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curioushuman
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2 Answers2

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"Long time no see" is an idiom that is itself ungrammatical; it is used only as a fixed phrase. As this article from NPR states, it is likely either a calque from Mandarin Chinese or the product of Native American Pidgin English.

Since the phrase already has no sensible internal structure, there is no "correct" way of changing or extending it. You could, of course, try making your own calque from Chinese, but it would cease to be recognized as an idiom.

alphabet
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  • Got you, thanks. I guess I've come up with a solution. – curioushuman Mar 12 '23 at 00:48
  • What @alphabet said is correct here about the origins of this phrase, and I completely agree with the analysis provided. – J.T. Gralka Mar 12 '23 at 01:34
  • You can't say "It's been a long time since I've seen you (long time no see) and never will." and hope to be understood. – Lambie Mar 12 '23 at 15:31
  • The NPR article that you cite states that the earliest instance of "long time no see" in print is from 1900, but my answer to my own question about the origin of the expression cites newspaper instances of the very similar wording "long time me no see" from 1874 (featuring a Chinese speaker), 1886 (a Native American speaker), and 1890 (another Chinese speaker). – Sven Yargs Mar 12 '23 at 21:24
  • @npr doesn’t seem to be a good source (to put it mildly) for language facts or data. – Araucaria - Him Mar 12 '23 at 21:26
  • That same answer notes an instance of the exact phrase "long time no see" from a newspaper in 1892, claiming that the (European American) speaker was influenced by Chinese American "pigeon English." – Sven Yargs Mar 12 '23 at 21:27
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"Long time no see" is nearly word-for-word transliterated import from Cantonese, "好耐(very long time) 冇(no) 見(see)".

I saw a sign as I was driving south on Rainier Ave, at the part where one could see the glory of Mount Tahoma aligned with the length of Rainier Ave, just outside of Seattle International District: "No Enter". I think they took it down, perhaps, after people made fun of it.

However, even the new sign "No Entry", like "No fair", is not good English structure. They should be "Not an Entry" and "Not fair".

We should respect these allowed quirks in the English language.

There were a bunch of guys in Maine who just could not accept the term "chicken rice". They said it ought to be "chicken and rice, or rice with chicken". Then I asked them, "What about pepperoni pizza?" Their response was, "Oh that's allowed, because that is traditionally accepted." What a bunch of racists.

"Chicken rice" and "long time no see" are valid colloquial expressions in the English language, as is "pepperoni pizza".

Blessed Geek
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  • +1 for the pepperoni pizza parallel. – Lawrence Mar 12 '23 at 03:11
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    "No Entry" is fine in signage language. In pepperoni pizza, the pepperoni goes to type of pizza, it's adjectival. Like cheese pizza. However, rice does not typically take a noun adjective like that. Adjectives with rice might be: candied rice or coconut rice. Those guys had the right instinct but an inaccurate explanation. – Lambie Mar 12 '23 at 15:37
  • Exactly the racist answer they gave. – Blessed Geek Mar 12 '23 at 20:29
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    Why chicken soup and not soup with chicken? – Blessed Geek Mar 12 '23 at 20:30
  • There’s nothing wrong with “No entry”. The word “no” there is a determiner. Best thought of as a shortening of something like “There is to be no entry here”. – Araucaria - Him Mar 12 '23 at 21:11
  • @Lambie Coconut is a noun there. Also consider jasmine rice, lemon rice, US rice, short grain rice etc, etc – Araucaria - Him Mar 12 '23 at 21:14
  • @Araucaria-Nothereanymore. Yes, jasmine rice and lemon rice and the others you give function as adjectives. "chicken rice" would mean you are using the noun chicken as an adjective. And as I have pointed out, it does not work. Would you say: duck rice or meat rice or goat rice? No, one would not use those unless referring to some new culinary "invention". – Lambie Mar 13 '23 at 13:48
  • Pepperoni pizza? No? – Blessed Geek Mar 16 '23 at 06:07