February 3 - 久しぶり (Japanese Word Origins vol. 3)

This is the third in a five-part series exploring the origins of Japanese phrases.


久しぶり (hisashiburi) - "Long time, no see."

Naoki always had a reputation for being a bit of a womanizer. Love them and leave them was his motto and forget about him calling you back because it wasn't going to happen.
Dude was notorious--and also something of a hero for younger single men in his area. Problem was, Naoki lived in a small town. Well, maybe not a small town, but definitely not big enough for him to be doing what he was doing and expect to get away with it. Inevitably, from time to time he would run into one of his conquests out on the town. Sometimes harsh words would be doled out from the woman to Naoki.
The young guys who looked up to Naoki often saw this go down and they got a big kick out of it. "Man," they'd say, for they fancied themselves men. "Look how pissed off she is! That's awesome."
"Yeah, man. Naoki totally saw her booty back in the day and then he was like, 'see ya.'"
"Yeah, but then, like way later they just ran into each other all unexpectedly and shit and he's like, 'whoah, didn't expect to see you here.'"
"Dude, he saw her booty."
"Totally."
In time, he saw her booty blurred into one word. Nobody is really sure how and when the grammar mistake of substituting she for her came about, but the resulting phrase is still with us in Japan today: Hisashiburi is what you say to someone you see again for the first time in a long time--regardless of whether or not you slept with that person the last time you were together.