salad days

S

salad days

Meaning

  • the time of youth, innocence and inexperience
  • the time in life when a person is young and has little experience
  • a period of youthful inexperience

Example Sentences

  1. They had met in their salad days and had fallen in love. Naturally, the union did not last long and they separated a few years later.
  2. Back in our salad days, we were adventurous and reckless, doing dangerous things and never thinking of our safety.
  3. Julian and Kathy used to be lovers in their salad days, but broke it off when they realised they were not compatible with each other. However, they have remained good friends.
  4. I had once gotten into trouble with the police over a drunken street brawl; but that was in my salad days, before I had a job, got married and learnt to be responsible.
  5. He may have grown old, but he has shed none of his brashness and aggression of his salad days.
  6. She met him in her salad days, and his charm had such a powerful effect on her that she was forever attracted to him.

Origin
This phrase was first used by Shakespeare in his play “Anthony and Cleopatra” in 1606. After that, the phrase was not used for about two hundred years, until about the 19th century, from when it started to be used widely.

Share your opinions1 Opinion

Maybe people began using the idiom because they began reading Shakespeare where it was used by Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra?

‒ Miss D M Bliss January 31, 2021

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