This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 528.
Should you say long time no see in English?
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Hey there, Aubrey.
What's shaking?
I'm great.
How are you, Lindsay?
Good.
Feeling good.
But I do have a question for you.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
Do you ever discover that something you say is actually offensive, but you just didn't realize it?
Maybe you had been saying it for a long time?
Yes.
This happened to me in my 20s, so I wasn't that young.
I had used the word gypped growing up to mean cheated or swindled.
And then and I had never seen it written.
I discovered that it came from the word gypsy, which is a derogatory term.
And so I stopped using it.
But all my whole child and a lot of people where I'm from still use it.
And I don't realize that it's offensive.
Well, as we learn, we get older, we get context and we understand things a bit better.
And then we make new decisions on our choices of words.
Right.
I mean, you might hear this word still being written gypsy in F Scott Fitzgerald's work or Simone de Beauvoir's work right, there's a lot of literature that has it.
Right, they both used it in books.
A lot of people, if they just hear it, they don't know that it's from this word, gypsy.
I actually found an article.
This was really interesting.
I thought um, let me read this really quick.
It was on in npr okay, and it was.
The title was why being gypped hurts the um, the roma, more than it hurts you.
Is what it said.
Um, as I said, I do you want to read it for us?
Yeah.
Okay, here we go.
I encounter a lot of people who tell me that they never knew the word gypped had anything to do with gypsies, or that it's offensive, especially when the word is heard, not read, says university of Texas at Austin professor Ian Hancock, who was born in Britain to Romani parents.
My response to them is, that's okay.
You didn't know now.
You didn't know, but now you do.
So stop using it.
It may mean nothing to you, but when we hear it, it still hurts.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I really loved this.
And it's interesting.
I'm like.
I want to share this with people I grew up with who are still saying this word, because almost always, when these offensive terms are used, the person saying it doesn't realize that they're saying something that could be offensive.
Absolutely.
And it becomes even more important in the workplace, right?
Which is what we talk about on the show.
It's you know, people are going to judge you even more so, or I guess the stakes are going to be higher.
Right, exactly.
And often at work, you don't know someone's background, their cultural heritage.
Not that that should stop, but you don't know who you could offend.
And so it's better to offend no one if you can help them.
Exactly.
So this is the vibe that we're going with today in this episode.
Really important.
We got a question from Joao de Souza Luz from Brazil.
Great question.
I'm going to go ahead and read the question.
Shall I read it?
Yes.
Okay.
Hey, gals from All Ears English.
I hope this email finds you well.
I heard this expression, long time no see, while watching movies and TV series.
But it's quite hard to know if you guys use these kinds of expressions during everyday life or conversations.
Can you give me a hand with this?
Thanks in advance.
Joao de Souza Luz from Brazil.
Awesome.
Yes, such a great question.
And this was so timely.
So thank you for sending this, Joao.
I do say long time no see, or I always have when I haven't seen someone in a while and I'm excited to see them.
What about you, Lindsay?
Yeah.
I mean, it definitely comes up in my vocabulary sometimes.
Like I know that you know.
What we're going to talk about a little bit here is that we should be aware of this and try to avoid it.
But sometimes it comes up and, you know, then I just... We're just used to hearing it and saying it.
It's very common in the vernacular in the U.S. at least.
It's really common.
But the more we know, the more we can pull back on it a little bit, right?
Exactly.
And just be smarter about our choices, right?
Right.
And not long before seeing Joao's question, I had seen something about this potentially being expensive.
So I was excited for the chance to dive deeper.
And I'm excited for the chance to share with you guys some of what I learned for you to think about like ooh, should we be using these phrases?
So what's our answer for Joao then?
What do we need to know?
Yeah.
So one thing I want to share is from the University of California Riverside.
They had an official inclusive language document that And two of the phrases we're talking about today were on that as language that is not inclusive and should not be used.
And one of them was long time no see.
And this is a quote from that document.
Can you read that for us, Lindsay?
Today, the phrase is used commonly to indicate that significant time has passed, but long time no see.
Originally mimicked and denigrated Chinese or Native American speech patterns.
So I had no idea, right?
All my life using this phrase, I didn't know that I didn't make that connection.
I was certainly not intending that.
But anyone who is aware of that would not want to use that, would not want to potentially offend or use a phrase that's from that.
So you're still going to hear it.
It might still slip out.
I might even still say it sometimes because it's such a part of my vernacular.
But it's similar to gypped where, now that I'm aware of it, I'm going to try to not use it.
Hopefully we're at least doing a face plant when we do use it right.
Right, and then try and remember.
But often, I wouldn't correct anyone saying this because most likely they're not aware of this.
I would stay away from that.
That's a bit of a line to cross if you start to become the person that's, you know, the police, the word police, right?
We don't want to, I don't recommend that.
I feel like this isn't that common of knowledge.
I didn't know this until very recently.
So I feel like it's one of those things that you may be the only one in a group of people who is even aware of this.
Exactly.
But there's another one too, that again, is really common in our speech and It is no can do.
Yeah, very similar.
Right.
So this is what the this inclusive language document said.
This phrase is often used to mean I can't do that, but originally emerged in the 19th century and mocked Chinese immigrants.
Speech patterns in English.
I did not know that I have grown up saying this.
And so this is interesting, because the question sort of is when phrases like these are so widely adopted in English that people use them without knowing their origin.
Should we continue using them or try to avoid them like you said, Lindsay, and maybe faceplant?
This is tricky because if you don't use it or say something, you'll probably be educating whoever you're with.
Right, for sure.
And you're not alone, Aubrey.
I also used this growing up for sure and have throughout my lifetime.
So, you know, we are learning and we're sharing our own learnings with our audience right here.
Right.
Definitely.
Right.
We can admit that we don't know everything.
We're learning about these two.
I read this whole inclusive language document.
I found it very interesting.
And definitely it's good to know the etymology of phrases, where these phrases come from, and then, fully educated, decide whether to use them.
But I really loved this quote from that document.
This was what they said.
And then we'll sort of talk about whether we agree.
And everyone listening at home can decide whether they agree.
This is what the University of California has said in their inclusive language document.
Actively avoiding language with racist, ableist or sexist origins is one way to promote an inclusive environment.
While it is impossible to strip all of our language of negative connotations, it is possible to be mindful of how seemingly innocuous language can be exclusive and demeaning to others.
Yeah. great vocabulary in this and also really thought-provoking.
Yeah, for sure.
I like this.
I mean, it's not about berating people and embarrassing them and calling them out publicly.
I think that becomes really toxic, right?
And that's part of why people are so angry nowadays, right?
Yes, there's this sort of lot.
Of people dislike what they would call woke culture and they would frown on discouraging these phrases.
And a lot of it is that, Lindsay.
I think it's very easy to patronize and have someone sound sort of holier than thou or better educated if they know about this, and that's not connection right, it's not connection to reprimand someone, um.
But there are other ways we can do it.
First of all, being aware ourselves, pulling back a little bit um but or and, and changing what we say.
So there are other words we can choose instead aubrey right, and we're going to talk about those in just a minute.
All right Okay Aubrey, we're back from break.
What could we say instead of long time no see?
Yeah.
So for example, it's been a while or it's been ages.
These mean the exact same thing.
She means I haven't seen you in a long time.
Yep.
You get the same effect.
I haven't seen you in so long, right?
Or wow, it's been forever.
I like this.
It's been forever because it's really saying the same thing.
Okay.
We love to exaggerate like that.
Has it really been forever?
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
We're the queens and kings of exaggeration over here.
Exactly.
Right.
Or this is a very fun informal American phrase to say, it's been a minute.
And they might say this now in the UK, but it's very popular in the States.
Yeah, I feel like this became popular in the 2010s, very trendy.
It's funny, right?
Because you're kind of saying the opposite of it's been a minute.
It's been a long time is what you're saying.
To say it's, oh, you might mean it's been years.
If you see someone, you haven't seen them in 20 years and say, it's been a minute.
Right, exactly.
It's been a lot more than a minute.
Yeah, I never adopted that into my vocabulary so much, but I know people who have.
Right.
Yeah.
I hear it a lot.
I remember my students in the Bronx saying it a lot, ninth and 10th graders.
And back then I sort of saw it as younger slang.
Right.
I wouldn't say it.
But now I hear everybody saying it.
I feel like it's very common now.
Well, usually the slang starts young and then moves up.
So true.
And then we either adopt it or push it or it goes away because we've adopted it.
Exactly.
I can't believe how long it's been.
Right.
Or where have you been hiding?
I mean, this is more fun if you want to be a little playful, maybe flirty or something.
Right.
Yeah.
This is kind of fun.
Right.
Especially if maybe you live in the same town and you just haven't been making plans.
You haven't been saying to be like, where have you been hiding?
Why haven't we met up?
Yep.
Yep.
Totally.
So look at that.
We just came up with six, maybe eight, six or eight alternatives.
So you do have other options.
It's not like there's just one thing to say in this scenario.
Exactly.
And the same thing for no can do.
Right.
You can just instead say, I'm sorry, I'm unable to do that.
I'm not going to be able to do that.
Right.
There are so many other ways to say this.
And, like you mentioned earlier Lindsay, this is especially important at work, where we are trying to be more professional, not offend, not use, like the University of California was saying, any vocabulary that would cause someone to feel discriminated or excluded.
You got it.
You got it.
This is all context, guys, right?
We learn more and more every day.
Then we make our choices.
But once we make an informed choice, that's how we're getting closer to connection and fluency.
Guys, go check out Business English 165, Business English Idioms to Avoid at Work.
Check that one out for sure.
Yes, and we will link that one on the blog because it's one that's sort of hard to find.
You have to scroll up quite a bit, but those were some really good idioms that are no longer like.
You might hear them in old TV shows or movies, but we don't recommend them.
So definitely check that out.
Okay, good to know.
And for a takeaway, guys, I mean, number one, don't berate people.
Don't be that person, right?
Don't go in that direction with this information, right?
Right.
But have context, have self-awareness when it comes to your word choice.
Yes, absolutely.
Right.
If you can choose language that isn't demeaning and exclusive.
Right.
If you know there's a chance, then there are better phrases you could use instead.
You got it.
All right.
Very important topic today, Aubrey.
And I will see you back on the show very soon.
You have a good rest of your week.
All right.
You too.
See you next time.
Bye.
Bye.
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