酔よい醒さめの水みず下げ戸こ知しらず

expression

a teetotaler doesn't know how good water tastes after drinking

Proverb meaning that someone who never drinks cannot appreciate the relief or pleasure that water brings to a hungover person; used to say that you cannot understand something without experiencing it.

• 「酔よい醒さめの水みず下げ戸こ知しらず」というように、経けい験けんしないとその良よさはわからないものだ。

  As the proverb goes, 'A teetotaler doesn't know how good water tastes after drinking' — you can't appreciate something without experiencing it.