Is, "For a long time to come," an English idiom, and what does it mean?

Answer 1

"For a long time to come." is an idiom.

This phrase is idiomatic in the sense that if you analyze it, it seems to be redundant ("For a long time" and "to come" seemingly imply the same thing). As with all idioms, "For a long time to come." is just something us native English speakers grew up saying.

"For a long time to come." is typically used to mean that an event that occurred in the past will have lasting effects well into the future. Here's an example scenario:

A government just decided to go to war. In an interview someone that opposes the war says: "The decision made to go to war will have a lasting impact for a long time to come."

What the person is implying here is that the decision by the government to go to war will have a long-lasting negative impact on the country.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.