Talk:long

wide and broad
Harrumph. Wide and broad are not synonyms of long.... --71.56.143.145 22:29, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree. I'll move them to See also. &mdash; Hippietrail 23:16, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

"I won't be long"
Can "long" be considered an adjective in the sense of having taken a long time, ("I won't be long.")?


 * Hmm. If so, I suppose "having great duration" sort of covers this. I had a look in Chambers and they get a bit closer to this by having "extended in time; taking a considerable time". It's interesting that you can say "I won't be long" but not "I was long", nor anything like "That long shopkeeper said he'd be back an hour ago!". Maybe it's just an elliptical form. Equinox ◑ 20:07, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

all night long
How would we analyse 'long' in this context? Isn't it a postposition? All night long = during the whole night? Does English have postpositions anyway? I'm not an expert on English.
 * Isn’t it the same as two hours long? — T AKASUGI Shinji (talk) 07:10, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Yeah of course. But where is that in the text? And what is it grammatically?
 * Same kind of construct as "three inches tall" or "six miles high". Equinox ◑ 15:09, 6 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Hmm right, that's very similar at least. I probably thought about it wrong because in German there is a postposition "lang" (= long), which is without doubt a postposition in a local sense (= along), and might also be one in the temporal sense. But in German you can also say: "We stayed there three weeks long." Which would be ungrammatical in English. So nevermind...

From The Monty Python
Looking from pining in w:Dead Parrot sketch, I found that is synonym for longing and yearning. Can this meaning be included in Etym2Verb or we need another sense? Sobreira ►〓 (parlez) 11:01, 19 May 2017 (UTC)

going far back in time ; risky
Extending back in time a long memory With an uncertain outcome long odds Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:42, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

beyond what is wanted; more distant/lengthy
xExtending in time or space beyond what is considered normal, reasonable, or desirable The speech was rather long, don't you think? The more or most distant or lengthy of two or more things the long way home Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:48, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

'long
'long reads " Verb: Alternative form of long" --Backinstadiums (talk) 21:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Wrong, removed. Equinox ◑ 22:11, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Long enough
What exact adverbial meaning is used in You've jerked me around long enough ? --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:34, 7 October 2020 (UTC)

Noun
A comparatively long time: ''They haven't been gone for long. Will it take long?'' https://www.wordreference.com/definition/long --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:24, 9 November 2020 (UTC)

Missing primary meaning
Long is also a very common adjective meaning extended, not short - as in a long river, long line, long carrot, long stick, long snake, long fangs, long rope. And then the comparative longer and superlative longest. Please add this meaning ~ 2601:441:4400:1740:F013:4022:997:A28B 21:26, 23 December 2020 (UTC)
 * "Having much distance from one terminating point on an object or an area to another terminating point". A long river is one in which one terminating point is far from (i.e. having much distance to) the other, etc. &mdash; surjection &lang;??&rang; 21:32, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

RFV discussion: June 2023–June 2024
Rfv-sense: Noun: "(finance) A long-term investment."
 * Could be, but I never heard or read it. DCDuring (talk) 17:42, 21 June 2023 (UTC)
 * It could be that what is intended in "A long-term fixed-income security", which fits the sole citation there now. DCDuring (talk) 17:58, 21 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I see lots of usage by and about traders with long positions in securities, including equities, not just fixed-income securities, not so much in real assets. We may just need to adjust the wording. Usage seems to be limited to securities trading. DCDuring (talk) 18:34, 21 June 2023 (UTC)
 * "long position" just means possessing the security, whatever it is, so that is a different sense. But, as you say, it looks as if this sense may refer to long-maturity securities, e.g. 10y+ bonds, which can be cited fairly easily. (This does not necessarily mean that an investor intends to hold the bonds as a long-term investment. He or she could be buying and selling them over the short term.) In the absence of any better ideas, I think I will change it to say this. Mihia (talk) 14:55, 18 June 2024 (UTC)


 * RFV-passed (with amended definition). Mihia (talk) 15:00, 18 June 2024 (UTC)

Usage note: (For) long
[https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/long_1?q=long (For) long is not used in positive sentences unless it is used with too, enough, as, so, seldom, etc. Still, In negative sentences for a long time sometimes has a different meaning from (for) long. Compare: I haven’t been here for a long time (= It is a long time since the last time I was here) and I haven’t been here long (= I arrived here only a short time ago).] JMGN (talk) 10:13, 7 July 2024 (UTC)