英文阅读：Salad years
Yan writes: In this passage – Of course… not all writers look like writers.One writer in particular, Fitzgerald noted, didn't look anything like a writer.
If a technological revolution had not upended the film industry during his salad
years, this writer might have had an enduring career and lived happily ever
after with the swimming pool, the wives and the mistresses he once had
(Fitzgerald vs. Hollywood, New York Times, February 10, 2008) – what does "salad
years" mean?
My comments: Thanks, Yan, for asking a great question. "Salad years" here
means heyday. "During his salad years" refers to the time when his was most
productive, when he was in his prime as a writer or, to use a writer's cliché,
"at the height of his creative powers".
Originally, though, "salad years" means a time of youth and innocence,
inexperience. It's a variation from the term "salad days", which was coined by
none other than William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616). This, from Merriam-Webster
online:
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."
"Green in judgment, cold in blood", those are links. Green is often used
for youth, e.g. he's a green hand. In America, though, the terms somewhat
inexplicably took on the meaning of maturity (as is evidenced by your example).
According to Michael Quinion at worldwidewords.org: "Jan Freeman pointed out in
one of her word columns for the Boston Globe back in April 2001 that the
expression has shifted sense in the US in the past twenty years or so. It now
often refers to a period in the past when somebody was at the peak of their
abilities or earning power, in their heyday, not necessarily when they were
young. The shift isn't so hard to understand when you think how few people
actually know their Shakespeare.”
Very true, both in America and here in this country among English majors.
Anyways, given the context of your example, we can safely infer "his salad
years"were his prime as a writer rather than youth. After all, if the author
were talking about young writers, green at their trade, the author would not
have mentioned "the swimming pool, the wives and the mistresses he once had" in
the same sentence, would he?
Let's examine more media examples. But before we do that, let me thank you
again for raising a great question, one which alludes to two great writers,
Shakespeare and Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), who wrote The Great Gatsby, among
others. Two writers we won't get hurt getting back to from time to time.
Anyways, here are the examples: 1. salad days (youth): Rejected: Speaking
of pop stars, an amusing story about Madonna during her salad days came out
during the film festival tribute to screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. A
frequent collaborator with director Milos Forman, Carrière worked with Forman on
"Taking Off," a 1971 spoof about hippies that includes an audition scene. When
Forman placed an ad for singers to appear in the scene, "the first person to
respond at 6 a.m. was Madonna," Carrière recalled. "And Milos didn't take her."
- Are nude scenes challenging? It all depends, sfgate.com, May 5, 2006.
2. salad days (heyday): The young-buck closers come along every once in a
while and grab the headlines: Boston's Jonathon Papelbon right now, Brad Lidge
in 2005 for the Astros, and who can forget that Eric Gagne set a record when he
succeeded in recording 81 consecutive saves during his salad days with the
Dodgers? But Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera were saving games then, and they
are doing it now. Rivera has been the Yankees' closer since 1997 and Hoffman has
been finishing for the Padres since 1994. - Rivera and Hoffman a pair of greats,
Padres.com, March 18, 2008.
3. salad years (youth): Jobs varied during his salad years from delivery
boy and window washer to handyman and construction worker. He also
worked/performed at a bawdy Elizabethan-styled theatre/restaurant. Spent his
youth swimming, fishing, and diving for coins tossed by the tourists who lined
the railings of the two-thousand passenger S.S. Catalina as it sailed into the
bay during the summer.
- Biography for Gregory Harrison, imdb.com.
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