Long time no see

[5jj]

Naturally. It's just one of those phrases I never took to...

This sometimes happens with people who are not native speakers, but who are very proficient in a language, when they meet an expression later in their studies. My German was pretty good when I arrived in Bavaria (many years ago), but it was hochdeutsch, or Standard German. It took me a long time before I could use the Baviarian hello and goodbye, 'grüß Gott' and 'auf wiederschauen', naturally. They sounded very strange after the 'guten Tag' and 'auf Wiedersehen' that I had been used to.

[dawnngcm]

I don't get why I would loose a contract saying this phrase to Chinese people.
Could you please dawn the light on this especially for me?

If I hear / read someone says / writes ‘long time no see’, I myself probably won’t think that person try to mock me. But amazing he/she knows the idiom.

We, Chinese especially Hong Kong people, will use this idiom as a greeting at the beginning of our informal conversation.

We simply use this idiom to make joke and greeting at the same time.

I agree with Raymontt, shannico and TheParser. Don’t use it unless you're sure you know what you're doing / writing in English.

P.S.
I think this idiom like I.T. (Information technology), muggle (a term from Harry Potter novel), etc. A decade ago, not many know those terms. When more and more people use them, they evolve into a part of the language.

Regards, Alex.

Oh, now I see.
I guess it could still be used in informal conversations with close friends, couldn't it?

Yes, I think so.

[AlexAD]

Thanks a lot for your comment, dawnngcm!