I haven’t seen you for ages, usually used as an informal greeting. This expression originated in the pidgin English used by the Chinese and Westerners dealing with them in the late nineteenth century, which gave rise to other simplified locutions such as “No can do.” This particular phrase is a translation of an actual Chinese greeting, ch’ang chih mei (or hao jiu mei jian). Heard very often until the mid-twentieth century, with its provenance long forgotten, this cliché may be obsolescent.