appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober

Meanings:

• 1.

  HistoricalBritish Englisharchaicproverbialformal
  • A proverbial expression asserting that it is futile to appeal to the same person in a different state; one cannot successfully reverse or re-litigate a decision by appealing to the same authority when that authority is later sober or in a different condition.
  • An admonition that an appeal must be made to a different authority, because asking the same individual—whose former decision one contests—to reconsider in another state is unlikely to yield a different verdict.

• 2.

  HistoricalGlobalfigurativeliterary
  • Used metaphorically to caution against seeking a contradictory judgment from the same person after conditions have changed; implies that meaningful appeals require a genuinely independent arbitrator.
  • A phrase denoting the futility of trying to obtain a favorable reappraisal from the originator of an unfavorable decision.