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Meaning

even a demon is pretty at eighteen

Even someone not especially good-looking gains a certain charm on reaching young adulthood.

Example

鬼も十八番茶も出花で、親戚の娘も年ごろになってずいぶん垢抜けた。

Even a demon is pretty at eighteen, as they say, and my relative's daughter has become quite polished now that she is grown.

Origin

It pairs two images: even a demon looks somewhat attractive at the right age, and even coarse bancha tea smells good when freshly brewed. Today it is used of women, but in the past it was used of both men and women. Similar sayings include oni mo jūshichi ibara mo hana (a demon at seventeen, a thorn bush in flower) and 鬼も十七山茶も煮端 (a demon at seventeen, coarse mountain tea freshly brewed). The first half, oni mo jūhachi, appears in the early Edo collection of humorous tales Seisuishō.

Sources