spilt milk

See also: cry over spilt milk

English

Noun

spilt milk (uncountable)

1. something that can't be undone
   • 1897, Harper's Bazaar - Volume 30, Issues 27-52, Hearst Corporation, page 892:

     It is not only lost, but in its spilling stains and spoils gown or carpet, and should it fall upon the bare ground, can add nothing to the producing powers of the earth; it is always just spilt milk, and not worth crying over.

   • 1950, Nancy Wilson Ross, I, My Ancestor, Random House, page 389:

     Even looking back is foolish—that's just spilt milk. You've got just two possibilities: stop dead in your tracks, or go on.

   • 1995, Michael Steinberg, The Symphony: A Listener's Guide, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 98:

     One might wish that Bruckner had stood up absolutely to these well-meaning, unscrupulous, and not impressively talented students of his, but that would mean entirely remodeling his personality — and thus, surely, his music. In any event, it is a matter now of spilt milk.

   • 1997, Carol Dawson, Meeting the Minotaur, Algonquin Books, →ISBN, page 62:

     I don't know. We'll probably never discover it. Let it go. It's just spilt milk. All water under the bridge.

Translations

something that can't be undone

• Dutch: gedane zaken pl
• Finnish: kaatunut maito
• Polish: rozlane mleko n
• Portuguese: leite derramado m