Claiborne investigates and reports on expressions like sow one's wild oats, about which he tells us little or nothing: the modern Latinate designation Avena fatua came too many centuries after the original expression to have any relevance to it, so why bring up the information that fatua is Latin for ` foolish ': it was also Latin for ` wild, ' which might be more to the point. In any event, it is hard to discern, from the arch style affected in an attempt to make dull facts interesting, just what is the origin of sow one's wild oats.
Claiborne reports on sayings such as sow one's wild oats, about which he tells us nothing.  Avena fatua came long after the original expression to have any relevance, so why say fatua is Latin for foolish, it was also Latin for wild.  It is hard to discern.