Today I learned:

"Long time no see" originated in the United States as "a jocular imitation of broken English."

"Long time no see" is similar to the Chinese phrase 好久不 見 (Mandarin traditional), 好 耐 冇 見 (Cantonese), 好久不见 (Mandarin simplified), meaning "haven't seen [you] in a long time", further meaning "we have not seen each other in a long time".

Similarly, "Look-see" is also attributed to Chinese pidgin English by the Oxford English dictionary.

How did I come across this, you may ask?

Because I found myself saying the phrase "No tickee, no shirtee!" to my children, because I grew up hearing it, and never thought anything of it, and thought - maybe I should look that up, because it's probably racist. And it was:

"No ____, no ____" predates the origin of Chinese Pidgin English, but is also a notable example of fabricated pidgin English: (沒 票 沒 襯衣) meaning "If you don't have a laundry receipt, I won't give you your shirts", said to be a fabricated pidgin English inaccurately attributed to the Chinese laundry proprietors.

In 1886, a New York City bill cited this phrase in reference to Chinese-owned dry cleaning establishments.

In 1921 a movie titled "No Tickee No Shirtee" further popularized the saying.

Another famous use of this phrase is "No money, no talk" (冇錢冇得傾 (Cantonese)), which simply means "If you don't have the money, don't try to bargain with me".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Pidgin_English

#todayilearned #racism #chinese #asian #anti-asian #laundry #etymology #casualracism #smartereveryday #notickeenoshirtee #longtimenosee #looksee