proverb · Words worth keeping
Eating and drinking takes away one's appetite.
Eating and drinking takes away one's appetite.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying observes that satisfying an appetite diminishes the desire that prompted it. As an analogy, obtaining something can alter how urgently it is wanted.
What the words are saying
Eating and drinking are pictured as answering a want until the appetite recedes. A figurative reading can invite someone to distinguish a present desire from a lasting priority. It does not mean every need disappears after one experience or that all enjoyment is self-defeating. The useful question is how the desire changes once it has been met.
Everyday example
Someone borrows a tool for a single task and then realises that owning it permanently is no longer a priority.
When to use it
Use it as a stated analogy about wants after fulfilment.
What it does not mean
The analogy does not diagnose appetite or establish a nutritional rule.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 475 · Eating
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English