within living memory
1
5.6
- idiom
:
en la memoria viva
- The landmark film will never live down its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan, but the scene of Lincoln's assassination, filmed within living memory of some who knew Lincoln, seems almost like a newsreel.
Examples
-
And yet, within living memory, some humans have endured similar apocalyptic traumas.
Blog text (21) -
Nobody had been murdered within living memory.
Academic text (2006) -
There were no other sculptors in Isare within living memory.
Academic text (1994) -
Mandume stood for a precious freedom that existed within living memory and that might yet be regained.
Academic text (1993) -
They tore apart a city that, within living memory, governed a fifth of the earth's surface and a quarter of its population.
Academic text (2011) -
The colonial period is within living memory, and the pains and joys are still fresh in the minds of both the colonized and the colonizers.
Academic text (2000) -
He has a particular interest in community-based projects that involve research into archaeology within living memory and supports Operation Nightingale, a British Army initiative to use archaeology to help rehabilitate injured servicemen and women.
Blog text (26) -
In most African countries, the colonial period has been fairly recent, "within living memory," where "the pains and joys are still fresh in the minds of both the colonized and the colonizers" (see Flolu, this issue).
Academic text (2000) -
Well within living memory, white Southern politicians presided over what was (very, very real racism in the North notwithstanding) a murderously racist regime that poured enormous effort into denying countless Americans their basic rights.
Blog text (6) -
Many people still recall the events that occurred within living memory.
Synonyms
16
3.3
During the time people can still remember
Antonyms
How Recent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'within' (inside a range) with 'living memory' (the recollection held by people who are still alive), so the meaning 'during a time that people currently alive can remember' is directly and compositionally derivable from the constituents. This is a literal, non-idiomatic construction and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows the component words should understand it.
Etymology
Within living memory comes from the idea that memory belongs to people who are still alive. If something happened during the time those people remember, it is in their living memory, so the phrase means 'in recent times' that people alive today can remember.