salad days
plural noun
William Shakespeare
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When is someone in their salad days?
A good salad is fresh, crisp, and usually green. Those attributes are often associated (in both vegetables and people) with vitality and immaturity. The first English writer known to use salad days to associate the fresh greenness of salad with the vigor and recklessness of youth was William Shakespeare. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra praises Marc Antony's valor and demands that her serving woman do the same. When the servant instead praises her former consort, Caesar, Cleopatra threatens her—until the woman notes that she is only echoing Cleopatra's own effusive past praise of Caesar. Cleopatra's reply marks the first English use of salad days:
"My salad days,
When I was green in judgment, cold in blood,
To say as I said then."
Synonyms
Examples of salad days in a Sentence
Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 20 Sep. 2024
Hall returns in the new series, which debuts on Showtime on Dec. 13, as a voiceover only, narrating young Dexter’s salad days.
—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2024
But the most notable difference about the salad days of Instagram was how confidently—and frequently—one posted to the grid.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 14 Aug. 2024
No one doubted that Cross had his finger on the pulse of what was captivating Seattle during those early ’90s salad days, and what would ultimately entrance the world.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 12 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for salad days 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'salad days.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Salad days.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/salad%20days. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.
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