In a long time

In a long time: Continuing for a large amount of time

Excerpts from soaps, novels and films:

Bold and the beautiful
“Jackie: You couldn’t have been surprised when he asked you for the divorce.

Stephanie: He didn’t ask me for a divorce.

Jackie: Of course he did. Last night — he talked to you last night.

Stephanie: Well, we talked about a lot of things all night long, but we didn’t talk about divorce. Matter of fact, Eric and I are closer than we’ve been in a long time.”