Records used to mean something, before they started bombarding us with them all day long.

We had two weeks before school started and we'd worked like dogs all summer long.

He started long strides toward the darkened end of the street.

But a few wizards start not long after that age.

He started with his stride long and full of conviction.

But the worrying was to start long before that, with the next transmission from Earth.

The negotiation of the treaty started long before the war.

To many budget monitors, the city's fiscal trouble started long before the attacks.

"She's been away all right and it started long before college."

The war started for many of us long before that date.