The phrase "a time when mere" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to introduce a discussion about a specific period characterized by simplicity or insignificance.
Example: "It was a time when mere survival was the only goal for many families during the Great Depression."
Alternatives: "an era when only" or "a period when just".
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — At a time when the mere phrase "high-frequency trading" makes some investors queasy, Brazil's stock exchange is putting out the digital welcome mat.
There was a time when the mere suggestion that a royal shindig might damage the country would be enough to garner an invitation to the Tower.
And at a time when the mere suspicion that a black man had flirted with a white woman could cost him his life, he insisted on sleeping with whomever he pleased.
Indeed, there was a time when the mere suggestion that he might, one day, become a member of the House of Lords would have been laughed at all the way round the vast, now defunct, industrial estate at Trafford Park, Manchester, where the militant young shop steward - a member of the Communist party from the age of 23 - was commissar of all he surveyed.
The project launched under the auspicious name DVD Productions, indicative of a time when the mere act of putting something to disc was cutting edge.
They might also recall a time when the mere suggestion of peaceful coexistence with the Red Menace of China was a career-ender for high school teachers and State Department officials alike.
In an otherwise blissful spring of journalistic overload, a time when the merest cough in the Kremlin merited front-page attention, it came about that the Post and its sister publication, Newsweek, were being awarded a plum: an interview with the General Secretary of the Communist Party.
Pumas with bite: Three greats Hugo Porta At a time when the Pumas were mere strivers rather than achievers, Porta was regarded as the world's finest outside-half.
