Who would have thought that possible not so very long ago?

不久前，谁会认为那种事可能发生呢？

youdao

There was a time not so very long ago that I didn’t pay much attention to where my money went.

不久以前的某个时候，我并没怎么注意钱花到哪儿去了。

youdao

It was not so very long ago that I was a parishioner of the parish of die-of-hunger-if-you-have-a-fire, -die-of-cold-if-you-have-bread!

时间不短了，我老在这个‘不挨冻你就得挨饿不挨饿你就得挨冻’的教区里当一个教民！

youdao

Not so very long ago, America was the destination for capital and talent.

FORBES: Wriston's Law Still Holds

It is easy now to be complacent about Europe's current relative stability, forgetting just how unlikely this seemed not so very long ago.

WSJ: Nobel Prize for EU an Inspired Decision

Once, not so very long ago, private individuals could not get access to photocopy machines except at certain government offices, such as the Post Office of Public Libraries.

FORBES: Colleges And Universities Should Operate More Like Businesses