hurricane  +  26424 Sat, 27 Mar 04 08:23 PM "Long time no see" is really used by native speakers? it sounds very strange to me. If I meet a friend who I haven't seen for a long time, how should I say? "Oh, I haven't see you for a long time!", I think it's too long to speak in a surprised and happy tone. hurricane Joined on Sun, Mar 21 2004 New Member 11

	Pemmican  +  26461 Sun, 28 Mar 04 02:36 PM I found it also really strange in the beginning, but I heard a lot of native speakers saying that, so it is possible to say "Long time no see" Pemmican Joined on Thu, Aug 21 2003 Regular Member 569 Wâ mag ich mich nu vinden? wâ mac ich mich nu suochen, wâ? nu bin ich hie und bin ouch dâ und enbin doch weder dâ noch hie. wer wart ouch sus verirret ie? wer wart ie sus...

	Wadelau.org  +  26528 Mon, 29 Mar 04 10:54 AM yes, I agree with you, I heard that lots of people saying like that. maybe it comes from Chinese sayings : Hao Jiu Bu Jian (Pinyin In Chinese), which means "Have not seen each other for a long time". Wadelau.org Joined on Wed, Mar 24 2004 Beijing, China New Member 05 业精于勤荒于嬉 accurate techno from diligence off by frolic 行成于思毁于随 well done from scheme badly for random

	rommie  +  26554 Mon, 29 Mar 04 02:47 PM In context - you bump into someone you haven't seen for a long time, either accidently, or a side-effect of doing something else. With an expression of joy and/or surprise on your face, say "Hi . How you doing? Long time no see!" "Long time no hear" is also usable on the telephone. I would guess that really modern variants like "long time no email" and so on will also start to become more common. Rommie rommie Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004 Earth orbit Regular Member 606

	mirapence  +  26606 Tue, 30 Mar 04 06:26 AM Hello Hurricane, Allow me to add a couple of applicable expressions in this sense. "Long time no see." is OK, but the usage is mostly confined to the colloquia expression. "It's been a long time." could be used in the same situation. It is a shortened form of "it has been a long time since I saw you last." Maybe Rommie, as he is British, would say, "It is a long time." instead of "it has been a long time." because the former is correct. Americans habitually use the latter though it is wrong grammatically. "It's been a while." means almost the same thing. How about, "What a pleasant surprise!" Mirapence mirapence Joined on Mon, Mar 8 2004 California, U.S.A Junior Member 77

	mirapence  +  26631 Tue, 30 Mar 04 01:14 PM Rommie, I am terribly sorry. I sincerely hope that you are not hurt by my reckless remark. I don't understand where I picked up that unfounded idea that you were a British man. All I want to say now is I am so sorry. This old man will have to learn again how to behave more prudently. Mirapence mirapence