Etymology Journal · D
Don't cry over spilled milk
Meaning
- Do not waste time being sad or angry about mistakes that are already made and cannot be fixed. It encourages moving forward instead of dwelling on small accidents.
Resilient, practical
Used in a sentence
- The vase is broken, but do not cry over spilled milk.
- We missed our flight, but there is no use crying over spilled milk.
- You dropped the project files, but let us just start over and not cry over spilled milk.
The backstory
This phrase has been around for centuries and is quite literal. In the days before refrigeration, spilled milk was a genuine, albeit small, tragedy because it was difficult to replace.
Heard in
Nationwide
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