The Long, the Short, the Tall

The title of today’s post is also the title of an old movie from 1961. There’s also an old song from the same period with the same title.

A few days ago, we were discussing in class the difference between long and tall. They told me long was for distances (a long drive) or time (a long wait), and tall for height (a tall building). In the end, we agreed that long was horizontal and tall was vertical.

In the pictures below, the sign for Pakenham St on the left is vertical (pointing up) and the same sign on the right is horizontal (lying flat).

Then I asked the class a question. I thought there was only one possible answer, but my learners proved me wrong. My question was, “What does it mean if someone says to you, ‘It’s been a long day!’?”

My thinking was this: there are always only 24 hours in a day, so a day can’t be long or short, but one learner suggested it meant that there was lots of sunshine and it only got dark when it was late. I had to agree with him.

But for a native English speaker, It’s been a long day is a way of saying that they’ve had a tough day. It’s been work, work, work. You finish one job and start another one immediately. It means you haven’t had an opportunity to rest or take a break, and you’re glad the day is over.

Often people sigh when they say this.