Salad Days, Green in Judgment

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Caitlin. I’m calling from Rye, New York. I love the show. Thanks for having me.

Hi, Caitlin. Thank you for the kind words.

Hey, Caitlin, what’s on your mind?

Well, I’ve been wondering about the term salad days.

Like people say, oh, those were your salad days.

I’m like, what does that mean?

Like, I love salad, but, you know, salad has some baggage.

It’s like all those smiling ads of women laughing with salad.

And, you know, lots of different kinds of salad.

I’m just like, what does this mean?

Those were your salad days.

When have people said something to you about your salad days?

What was going on?

I think I heard someone, like an older person, say, oh, those were your salad days.

And I’m like, oh.

What does that mean?

That noise says so much to me.

Yes, I was flummoxed.

Did it sound positive?

The impression was that it was a positive, like the youthful days of salad or, you know, like those were the good days.

And, you know, I feel like I read once that salad was served only before a meal in California.

It started in California because people were so hungry and they only came around so seldom that the only thing they could do was give them some salad while the main meal was being prepared.

And that’s why salad is eaten beforehand.

So I don’t know, you know, if it’s a positive or what.

But that’s what I’m wondering.

Oh, this is fabulous.

What would you say if I told you that salad days is an allusion to something that Shakespeare said?

Oh, really?

Yes.

Yes.

The first recorded instance that we have of this term salad days is in his play Antony and Cleopatra.

And Cleopatra is in love with the Roman general Mark Antony.

But she remembers an earlier dalliance that she had with Julius Caesar.

She says, my salad days when I was green in judgment, cold in blood.

This is hot and cold.

Exactly.

She’s talking about her youthful, immature days.

And, you know, it’s sort of like salad is fresh and green and crisp.

And so she’s talking about her younger days.

And, you know, so it’s a positive thing.

In fact, over time, people have come to use the term salad days to talk about a wonderful period in their life, even if they’re older.

My salad days.

But it’s a very positive term.

So there’s a direct correlation to the green in judgment being green in general.

That’s the idea of new green, like a new grass growing or newly sprouted seed, right?

Flavorful.

Yeah.

Crunchy.

Oh, that’s so many.

Crunchy.

Back in your crunchy days.

I think it’s lunchtime.

That’s fascinating.

I would not have known it was such an old term.

With a literary…

Yes, we don’t know if Shakespeare actually

Coined the term, if it had been floating

Around, but his

Play is the first record we have of

Anybody saying salad days.

Well, that’s fascinating.

Thank you. Thank you for

Answering that. I really appreciate it.

Take care. Call us again sometime, alright?

Thank you. Thanks, Caitlin.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

She sounds like she’s in the middle

Of her salad days. She does,

Doesn’t she? Green with youth. It doesn’t sound particularly misspent, though. Spending a lot of

Time in the salad aisle at the grocery store. Yeah, but if you’re green in judgment, as Cleopatra was,

Right. It’s the idea that you’re just not wise yet. You haven’t made all the bad decisions that

Will give you wisdom. Well, it would be an excellent decision to call us to talk about

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