salad days

American  

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. a period of youthful inexperience.

   a man who never lost the immature attitudes of his salad days.

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salad days British  

plural noun

1. a period of youth and inexperience

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salad days Cultural  

1. A time of youth and inexperience; often, a better and more innocent time. The expression comes from William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, where Cleopatra says her early infatuation with Julius Caesar was foolish: “My salad days, when I was green in judgment.” (“Green” refers both to inexperience and to the color of a salad.)

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salad days Idioms  

1. The time of youth, innocence, and inexperience, as in Back in our salad days we went anywhere at night, never thinking about whether it was safe or not. This expression, alluding to the greenness of inexperience, was probably invented by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra (1:5), when Cleopatra, now enamored of Antony, speaks of her early admiration for Julius Caesar as foolish: “My salad days, when I was green in judgment, cold in blood.”

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Etymology

Origin of salad days

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

Between inflation, upkeep, and labor costs—including a Nevada minimum wage that jumped to $12 last year—Lovat argued, the salad days of low-minimum blackjack have been legislated out of the fray.

From Slate • Nov. 18, 2025

Petchey, who used to coach Andy Murray in his salad days on the ATP Tour, has been giving pointers on the practice courts and offering coaching advice from Raducanu's box.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2025

They were the first spoken word poet to tour in rock clubs, often selling out shows, and footage of Gibson performing captures their salad days.

From Salon • Feb. 3, 2025

I don’t have a sailboat anymore, but in my salad days I’d go sailing at least twice a week.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2024

Those were the salad days, the halcyon years!

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen