faded/lost youth

[LewisJian]

It's no use truing to remember one's lost youth.


HI,
Is "lost youth" in the above equal to "faded youth?" Thanks.

 

[Raymott]

I think you mean "trying"
You could use 'fading'. It would work. The words don't mean the same though, so phrases aren't 'equal'.

 

[LewisJian]

I think you mean "trying"
You could use 'fading'. It would work. The words don't mean the same though, so phrases aren't 'equal'.

Thanks and yes, it should be "trying."
Could you shed more light on their differences?

 

[tedmc]

Lost youth is a state whereby the phase of being a youth is over.

Fading youth is the gradual process which one goes through before one is no longer a youth.

 

[Raymott]

Yes, but 'faded' isn't 'fading'. (Sorry, I wrote 'fading' too in my last post).
Well, look, they're different words. You can have a faded shirt, but that doesn't mean you've lost your shirt. This applies less to youth. But it depends on the context.

Concerning youth, if you're trying to remember your lost youth, it's your full youth you are trying to remember. That's different from trying to remember your faded youth. Let's say you're 70. If you remember when you were 20, you remember your lost youth. But, for some reason, you might be remembering when you were 35, at which time your youth may have been faded. You would be remembering your faded youth.

It's a subtle point. Actually, so is "lost youth". You can be 70 and remember when you were 50, remembering that at that time you had lost your youth, while not remembering your youth at all.

 

[Tdol]

A lost youth cannot be recaptured IMO. A faded youth can in some way be regained. If I go to see a concert by a band I saw when I was 15, that would be my faded youth.