cosa fatta capo ha

Italian

Etymology

From Dante's La Divina Commedia (see the quotation below). First attested in 1472.

Proverb

cosa fatta capo ha

1. what's done is done, there's no use crying over spilt milk

   Synonyms: quel che è fatto è fatto, piangere sul latte versato

   • 2000 [1472], Dante Alighieri, “Inferno”, in Robert Hollander, Jean Hollander, transl., La Divina Commedia [The Divine Comedy], Doubleday:

     gridò: "Ricordera' ti anche del Mosca, / che disse, lasso!, 'Capo ha cosa fatta', / che fu mal seme per la gente tosca".

     cried out: "Surely you'll remember Mosca also, / who said, alas: 'A done deed finds its purpose.' / For Tuscany, that was an evil seed."

Usage notes

• This is stylized, poetic Italian. The word order in this proverb is highly irregular in modern Italian.