SALAD DAYS

SALAD DAYS is a Shakespearean idiomatic expression to refer to a youthful time, accompanied by the inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence or indiscretion that one associates with a young person.

A more modern use refers to a heyday, a period when somebody was at the peak of their abilities— not necessarily in that person’s youth.

The phrase, which became popular from the middle of the 19th century is typically associated with teenagers and amateurs to any profession, both of whom harbour a lot of imagination but still need a few more years and hard work to gain foothold in their respective workspaces.

The phrase was first coined in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra in 1606. In the speech at the end of Act One in which Cleopatra is regretting her youthful dalliances with Julius Caesar she says:

According to Shakespearean experts, Cleopatra’s use of the word ‘green’ — presumably meant someone youthful, inexperienced, or immature. Her references to “green” and “cold” also suggest qualities of salads.

Inexperience and resultant mistakes are also associated with this phrase that was not used in popular media for about 200 years since Shakespeare until in a citation from the Oregon newspaper The Morning Oregonian, 1862: “What fools men are in their salad days.”

Salad days was later used as the title of a musical whose lyrics were written by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade.