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Это была самая долгая секундочка.

Это была самая долгая секундочка.
That was the longest little second.
From Lesson 406:Softening diminutives (-очк-, -ик-)·Russian

Breakdown of Это была самая долгая секундочка.

это
this / it is
быть
to be
долгий
long (of time)
самый
most
секундочка
quick second

Questions & Answers about Это была самая долгая секундочка.

How does the diminutive секундочка change the tone compared to just saying секунда?
The suffix -очк- here is used for emotional effect rather than literal size. It adds a sense of irony or playful exaggeration. By calling it a "little second," the speaker heavily emphasizes the contrast with how excruciatingly долгая (long) that tiny unit of time actually felt.
Why is the verb была feminine when the sentence starts with the neuter pronoun это?
When это acts as a demonstrative "dummy" pronoun (meaning "this is" or "that was"), the past tense of the verb быть (to be) ignores это and instead agrees in gender and number with the predicate noun. Because секундочка is feminine, the verb must be была.
Could I use длинная instead of долгая for the word "longest"?
No, that would sound unnatural. In Russian, долгий is specifically used to describe a long duration of time (like a wait or a moment), whereas длинный describes physical length or distance (like a rope or a street).

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