Salad days

"Salad days" is an idiomatic expression, referring to a youthful time, accompanied by the inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion that one associates with a young person. More modern use, especially in the United States, refers to a person's heyday when somebody was at the peak of his/her abilities—not necessarily in that person's youth.

The phrase was 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: :"...My salad days, / When I was green in judgment, cold in blood..."

The phrase became popular only from the middle of the 19th century, coming to mean “a period of youthful inexperience or indiscretion." The metaphor comes from Cleopatra's use of the word 'green'—meaning someone youthful, inexperienced, or immature. The probable allusion is to certain leafy plants (such as dandelions) that are edible when young and tender.

References in popular culture

Salad Days is a musical with music by Julian Slade and lyrics by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade. A production of the musical is being performed at the Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking, Surrey, part of the Ambassador Group, from October 28, 2008 to November 1, 2008.

Independent rock band Cursive of the Saddle Creek record label ends its song "Hymns for the Heathen" with the line "Oh, salad days, living in Happy Hollow."

The term was used memorably by Nicolas Cage's character Herbert "H.I." McDonnough in the feature film "Raising Arizona". News of his wife's infertility caused him the unhappy realization that he "...preminisced no return of the salad days."

The comedic group Monty Python made a skit entitled "Sam Peckinpah's "Salad Days"".

British progressive rock band Procol Harum had a song titled "Salad Days (are Here Again)" on their 1967 self-titled debut album.

British New Romantic band Spandau Ballet used the lyrics, "These are my salad days slowly being eaten away," in their 1983 hit "Gold."

Author Chuck Palahniuk wirtes "All those salad days on Dianabol and then the racehorse steroid, Wistrol." in the book Fight Club.

Mick Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones, refers to "salad days" in "Party Doll," a track from his second solo album, "Primitive Cool", recorded in 1987: "You used to be my party doll / But now you want to live in clover / You used to be my number one / But now those salad days are over / Times change but the fascination stays / Love wins but the passion just fades."

Rapper Talib Kweli used the line "We used to kick it in the salad days, but she looks at me like she don't know me when she sees me nowadays," in the song "Ms. Hill," a tribute to singer Lauryn Hill.

D.C. Straight Edge hardcore band Minor Threat wrote a song, "Salad Days."

Montgomery Burns, a prominent character in the hit cartoon TV series "The Simpsons" used the expression in a 1990 episode entitled "Simpson and Delilah", saying; "You may find this hard to believe, but in my salad days, my crowning glory was a bright shock of strawberry blonde curls."

Swedish hip hop artists Embee and Timbuktu collaborated on a song "Sallad Days" on Embee's record "Tellings from Solitaria". (Salad in Swedish is spelled with the extra "L".) Timbuktu sings about the future, and the possible "salad days" to come.

A Japanese comic (manga) "Salad-Days" was written by Shinobu Inokuma.

The 1980's minimalist rock band "Young Marble Giants" had a song "Salad Days" on their album titled "Colossal Youth". "Salad Days" is also the title of a collection of early demos and outtakes issued on CD in 2000.

Skavoovie and the Epitones have a track titled "Salad Days" on their 1999 album, "The Growler".

The *** punk band Anti-Flag have a song called "No Future", which has the lines "Your future is not to be forced on the world/The salad days of revolution are inborn".

The American skate-punk band NOFX recorded a song entitled "Anarchy Camp" about a summer camp for young anarchists on the album "The War on Errorism" that includes the lyric "so come along with us/salad days and nights on the anarchaic bus".

In the second episode of the 2007 television show "Californication", David Duchovny's character Hank Moody responds to his date's compliment about his early writings by saying "ah, my salad days. You and I are going to get along just fine."

U.S. indie rock band Cheer-Accident have a song entitled "Salad Days" which was released on their 2000 album of the same name.

Supreme Court Justice David Souter has recalled the service of New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice and NYU Annual Survey dedicatee Frank Kenison in Souter's own "salad days" to have been that of a great judge.

In the 1988 remake of D.O.A., a student hands the teacher and author Dennis Quaid a copy of his old, ground-breaking novel for an autograph. Quaid studies the photo of himself on the back of the book and quips, "Talk about your salad days." A reference to both to his youthful appearance in the photo and his once-idealistic self.

ee also

*Halcyon

References

* [http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2001/12/28.html Dictionary.com entry]
* [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sal1.htm World Wide Words discussion of 'Salad Days' usage, original and modern]