English

Noun

memory like a sieve

1. (simile) Alternative form of mind like a sieve
   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “chapter XX”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, OCLC 1227855:

     Charming woman, but with a memory like a sieve. The sort who's always losing one glove at the theatre. Naturally she wouldn't remember a butler's name. She probably thought all along it was Fotheringay or Binks or something. Very common, that sort of mental lapse.