覆水盆に返らず

Japanese

Kanji in this term
覆	水	盆	返
ふく Grade: S	すい Grade: 1	ぼん Grade: S	かえ Grade: 3
on’yomi			kun’yomi

Etymology

Partial calque of Literary Chinese 覆水難收 (fùshuǐnánshōu, literally “It is hard to retrieve spilt water”). Originally read as 覆水収(ふくすいおさ)め難(がた)し (fukusui osame-gatashi) in kanbun kundoku.

This form literally means "spilt water does not return to the basin". The back-formation of this form in pseudo-kanbun would be 覆水不返盆.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟ᵝkɯ̟ᵝsɨᵝi bõ̞ɲ̟ ɲ̟i ka̠e̞ɾa̠zɨᵝ]

Proverb

覆(ふく)水(すい)盆(ぼん)に返(かえ)らず • (fukusui bon ni kaerazu) 

1. Once a married couple divorce, they cannot reconcile.
2. don't cry over spilt milk.

Synonyms

• 後悔先(こうかいさき)に立(た)たず (kōkai saki ni tatazu)