早就該發生了
沒有白紙黑字的期限，但大家心裡都覺得它早該來了——這時候這個字帶的是「終於」的語氣。
long awaited/late · adjective · B2
needed or expected a long time ago; something that should have happened or been done much sooner.
早該…的；早就該發生的
核心畫面
Picture a deadline sitting behind you: the moment it should have happened has already gone past, and it still has not happened. The word is always measured against a time that was expected — sometimes an exact date on a slip, sometimes just a general sense that it is well past time.
可以想成：期限已經被你甩在身後了——那個「本來該完成」的時間點過去了，而事情還沒發生。這個字永遠是拿一個「原本預期的…更多收起
可以想成：期限已經被你甩在身後了——那個「本來該完成」的時間點過去了，而事情還沒發生。這個字永遠是拿一個「原本預期的時間」在比：有時候是單子上明確的日期，有時候只是大家覺得早就該發生了。From the picture
Also in this word
past due · adjective · B1
not done, paid, or returned by the time that was expected.
逾期；過期未還／未付
原始詞典資料3 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
overdueadj/ˌəʊ.vəˈdju/
- 1
Late; especially, past a deadline or too late to fulfill a need.
- his library books were three days overdue; my car is overdue for an oil change; she finally left on a long overdue vacation
- [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.
overduenoun/ˌəʊ.vəˈdju/
- 1
A borrowed item (such as a library book) that has not been returned on time.
- 2
A payment or invoice that is past due.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。