Townsend went there with us, but found himself so unwell that he went home very early. His cough has return'd, with several disagreeable symptoms. I fear exceedingly that he isnot long for this world.
He thinks that said soul will have to be resuscitated from its asphyxia; that if it prove irresuscitable, the man isnot long for this world.
1928,Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention”, inDorothy L. Sayers: the complete stories, published2002, page92:
But I've had a warning, and I'mnot long for this world." "Not long for this world? Oh, nonsense, Plunkett. You mustn't talk like that. A touch of indigestion, that's what you've got, I expect.
2006,Richard Peck,The Teacher's Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts, page188:
Though Aunt Maud had always maintained she wasnot long for this world, she outlived all her generation.
2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 31:46 from the start, inThe Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?[1], archived fromthe original on3 November 2022:
WithGambier Bay andHoel sinking andRobertsnot much longer for this world, theJohnston is now set upon by four cruisers and a number of destroyers. The ship's crew patch holes as fast as they can, but the ship isliterally gradually beingtaken apart by repeated salvos. The fact thatthis particular set of Japanese ships isSTILL using armor-piercing instead of high explosive is the only saving grace.
