You don't know what you got till it gone saying

[juliadavison12]

you don't know what you got till it gone, can someone explain this in better terms please and what it means, as i like to know the saying and what it means properly please.

[JLP]

Originally Posted by juliadavison12

you don't know what you got till it gone, can someone explain this in better terms please and what it means, as i like to know the saying and what it means properly please.

Are you thinking of the Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi," which has this line in it?

At any rate, I think the lyrics to the whole song (aka, "They Paved Paradise") sum up the idea quite well, which is that you can't properly appreciate all of the good things you have in life until you have to live without them. If you're curious, here they are:

Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi Lyrics

A version of the saying that I am quite familiar with, and that expresses the same idea, runs, "Never missed the water till the well ran dry."

[juliadavison12]

yes can someone explain this better please.

[Anglika]

You do not appreciate what you have until you have lost it - no longer have it.

If you have a boyfriend, maybe you do not give him the attention he wants. When he goes off with your best friend, you realise just how much you really wanted him.

[Ouisch]

We tend to take things for granted, to not properly appreciate them, until they're suddenly taken away.

For example, something as simple as flipping a switch and turning on a light. I do it dozens of times per day and don't think twice about it. Then, when a storm recently knocked out our electricity for three days, we had to scramble to find candles and flashlights in order to see anything. Of course once we found the candles, we then had to stumble around in the dark to find the matches, because the batteries in the flashlight were dead. The heat and humidity made it almost impossible to sleep without air conditioning, and I couldn't cook anything because my stove is electric. I never truly appreciated the marvel that is electricity until we were left without it.