can salt and pepper go bad? can spices go bad or expire?!

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salt will be fine as long as it does not get wet.
Pepper and other spices will eventually become less strong and pungent and you find yourself needing to use more and more.
They do not spoil in the way you are thinking. No dry food item does. As long as it does not get wet, it won't spoil. It will get old and tasteless though.

The flavor and aroma that makes pepper a useful condiment is an aerosal that gradually evaporates into the surrounding atmosphere, thus it does degrade, and depending on how tightly it is sealed as well as the temperature, it will become nearly flavorless/useless after a decade or so. That's why fancy restaurants freshly grind pepper over your Caesar salad. Just try freshly ground pepper and your taste buds will really know the difference. Most spices are the same, aromatic oils diffuse out of the spice over time, some much faster than others. Salt is a mineral and as stated by posters above can last forever, although it can "cake" if exposed to moisture.

pure salt, no, but spices, yes.

They can deteriorate in a number of ways, moisture being the real killer. Some spices are more prone to mold than others, and all will lose flavour if not kept in an air tight container, in a cool place, out of direct sunlight.

Keeping whole spices is better, then grind on demand.

Throw ground spices after 6-9 months, whole spices may keep a year (or two).

Black pepper changes flavour over a few weeks, so that is why it is milled on demand.

40 years of spicing (I have about 150 different ones).

Salt and other spices can spoil through absorbing moisture and odors along with that moisture. If they are kept dry and in an airtight container then they can usually last a long time. There have been spices found in tombs in airtight containers that were as good as when they were fresh. So, spices can last thousands of years given the correct storage conditions.

Salt will get damp, stick together & lose flavour.
Pepper & other spices lose their potency over time.
The flavour is in the aromatic oils, which evaporate.

salt no pepper yes but it takes forever. the best way to tell if a spice is good is by aroma. if you cannot smell the spice or if the scent has faded alot get new spices.

They won't go bad in the way meat or vegetables rot and are bad or damaging to your health. However they do go bad in the sense that they lose flavor and taste...

I am fairly sure salt won't go expire. Other spices definitely do expire. They get flat and flavorless.

cooking at home

They lose their potency over time. Salt can lose it's flavor and so can pepper.

Yes, but they last about 3 years before they do.