so long

American  

interjection

Informal.

1. goodbye.

   I said so long and left.

---

so long British  

1. informal farewell; goodbye

---

adverb

1. slang for the time being; meanwhile

so long Idioms  

1. Good-bye, as in So long, we'll see you next week. The allusion here is puzzling; long presumably means “a long time” and perhaps the sense is “until we meet again after a long time,” but the usage has no such implication. [Colloquial; first half of 1800s]

---

Etymology

Origin of so long

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

Never before have we locked her out of the basement for so long, and she pays us back with pathetic pouts.

From Literature

Another major blow came when the club let the potential signing of Eze drag on so long that Arsenal seized the opportunity to hijack his move from Crystal Palace.

From BBC

"Being told that someone could actually see me and support me and was listening to me, it was just relief, because for so long I'd just been told there's nothing," he added.

From BBC

Discovery to structure permanent financing in any way it chooses “so long as the debt is redeemable at a commercially reasonable cost upon the close of the Paramount transaction.”

From The Wall Street Journal

It had been so long since he’d met someone he shared something in common with.

From Literature

Related Words

• goodbye
• send-off
• sendoff