to live down
19
7.7
- phrasal verb
- /lɪv daʊn/
- One of my range buddies is still living down a mistake he made three years ago, which resulted in no injuries, because there are big parts of the gun culture that are downright obsessive about safety.
- live down your reputation
- live down the shame
- never live down
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Watch on YouTubeBut nevertheless, it doesn't allow me to live down the shame I feel when my wife brings up this study.
- But nevertheless, it doesn't allow me to live down the shame I feel when my wife brings up this study.
- My demo failed, and to this day I'm trying to live down my shame of not knowing it would be tested with feck.
Examples
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Pickles and Kevin are still sleeping, so I haven't heard their recaps yet, but I'm sure this is something that I will never live down.
Blog text (23) -
Oxford, Mississippi - This one is going to take a long time for Hugh Freeze to live down.
Blog text (13) -
"It takes time for a person to live down a bad reputation.
Fiction book (1996) -
But you can live down a scandal if you want to.
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- He's got his reputation to live down.
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Despite its recent reforms, the party had not been able to live down its reputation for authoritarianism and corruption.
Academic text (1995) -
"My sister tried to kill Morgen—a fact it seems I will never live down."
Fiction book (1991) -
That Mr. Allott will be one huge flaw that history will never let Romney live down.
Blog text (6) -
Dan Quayle, tagged with a reputation as a dumb blond male, never lived down his misspelling of "potato."
Blog text (32) -
After that embarrassing moment at the party, he is trying to live down his mistake and earn back his friends' trust.
How Forgotten
19
7.7
238
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
live + down
The meaning is partially recoverable from 'live' (to continue existing/behave) plus 'down' (suggesting reduction or diminishment), so a learner might infer a sense of reducing the impact of something. However, the specific pragmatic idea of making people forget or forgive a past embarrassment requires metaphorical and cultural inference rather than straightforward composition, so it is not fully predictable.
Etymology
The phrasal verb live down gives a simple picture: by continuing to live and behave well, a past shame slowly sinks down out of people's minds. So it means 'to be forgiven or forgotten'.