The Young Idea is a phrase used to describe youth. The term is often used in literature, music, films, TV, radio, and other media. The best-known use is for the title of a play by Noel Coward.
Origin and use.
The phrase comes from the poem "Spring", written by the Scottish author James Thomson in 1728, one of a series of four poems titled "The Seasons". The poem focuses on the arrival of spring, and uses personification to bring the natural world to life. It contains the lines:
The word "idea" comes from Greek ἰδέα "idea" "form, pattern", and "The American Encyclopaedic Dictionary" (1894) gives "To teach the young idea how to shoot" as an example for the word "shoot", meaning "To make progress; to advance"; so the phrase "To teach the young idea how to shoot" describes the forming and training of the young.
Charles Dickens refers to the phrase in jest when Pip relates that Mrs. Pocket:
However, the meaning gradually broadened in scope, "the young idea" referring generally to the world of young people and the way they saw things, until it meant no more than "children", "young people", "youth" or "young". For example: