Learn English – What does ‘for such actions as …’ mean

Two phrases:

• "X is good for you." This just means something is healthy for you, beneficial for you, etc.
• "Good for you!"
  • This can be used in seriousness, such as Bruno said. It can either mean "Congratulations!" and "That's great!", or as a word of praise.
  • The phrase can also be used sarcastically, especially if delivered with an overly enthusiastic tone. In this case, it carries the connotation of, "Wow, that's great. Do you want a pat on the back or something?"

To understand what this simple phrase means first think of the literal meaning, that the person was abandoned because it was assumed that they were already dead, mortally wounded or that it was inevitable that they die.

But there is more to the phrase than that. In common usage, this phrase is often part of a narrative where a person was expected to die, yet against the odds they survived. Some examples from COCA:

Left for dead by a busy road, Susan managed to get a ride to a police station where she insisted she be brought to the Nairobi Women's Hospital.

Pueschel, just 11-years-old, was beaten, stabbed and left for dead, but he lived to testify against Reginald and Gerry Mahaffe.

... a young man in Los Angeles was robbed, shot, left for dead, but he lived because a bullet was stopped by a radio in his pocket.

The common theme in these stories is an act of cruelty towards an innocent person who survives either by a stroke of luck or a miracle. A proper reading of the title Left for Dead should include cruelty, abandonment but also a sense of hope.