"Nice to meet you " vs “Nice to have met you”, what's the difference?

[Hugo_Lin]

Hi, teachers:

My understanding is,

people say "nice to meet you" when they just meet.

and people say "nice to have met you" when they've finished meeting each other and say goodbye.

Am I right?

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes.

 

[BobK]

Also, if people have been phoning or mailing for years, they often - at the end of the meeting - say something like 'It is good to have met you at last'. Less formally, they could swap the words 'met you' for the friendlier 'put a face to the name'.

b

 

[billmcd]

Yes. Your distictions are correct.

 

[Winwin2011]

Is it natural for people to say "Nice meeting you" when they've finished meeting each other and say goodbye?

Thanks.

 

[Rover_KE]

Yes, unless the meeting has been acrimonious.

Rover

 

[joham]

Thank you all for this thread. This 'Nice to have met you' for saying goodbye is new to me. Very glad I've learned something new here today. Coming here and reading the postings here is a great pleasure for me.

Macmillan Dictionary says 'Nice to meet you' is used for greeting someone when you meet them for the first time, or for saying goodbye to them on that occasion'. But Oxford Dictionary says 'Nice to meet you! (= a friendly greeting when you meet somebody for the first time)'.

Of the three expressions of 'Nice to meet you', 'Nice to have met you' and 'Nice meeting you' for saying goodbye on that occasion, which is the most frequently used?