"Salad days" is an idiom referring to a period of carefree innocence, idealism, and pleasure associated with youth. The modern use describes a heyday, when a person is/was at the peak of their abilities, while not necessarily a youth.
The phrase is attributed to William Shakespeare, who made the first known use of it in his 1606 play "Antony and Cleopatra". 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/To say as I said then!"
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'—presumably meaning someone youthful, inexperienced, or immature. Her references to "green" and "cold" both suggest qualities of salads.
- source: wikipedia
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My own "salad days" were those of my university times. Our lives were very simple then: the food were basic, the school dormitories were crowed, and we often had to go to big classes with up to a hundred students packed into a room and some have to sit on the floor sometimes. Also the hunger for lunch during the last morning classes, and the hopeless feeling when I kept failing 800M running test in PE class.
But still I felt so carefree and so happy, like a sponge soaked in water, was so eager to learn new knowledge each and everyday. So much so that I didn't want to leave school when graduation time came... I just continued and become a grad student.
Now, after learning this idiom, the green and cold salad I have for supper every other day looks more interesting than before :-).
Hope that you don't mind sharing a bit of your "salad days" ;-)) And Happy Thursday to U all !
Bonus: sunset at Tofino long beach - a pic I took in 2009 with a point & shoot camera
