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spilt

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(it's/there's) no use crying over spilt milk

It does no good to get upset over a bad decision or unfortunate event that has already come to pass and cannot be changed. We were pretty disappointed to have lost the championship game, but there's no use crying over spilt milk. We just have to train harder for next season! I know you really wanted that job, but you weren't hired, so it's no use crying over spilt milk now. I was such a fool to take out that second mortgage. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk!

See also: crying, milk, spilt, use

(there's) no point crying over spilt milk

It does no good to get upset over a bad decision or unfortunate event that has already come to pass and cannot be changed. We were pretty disappointed to have lost the championship game, but there's no point crying over spilt milk. We just have to train harder for next season! I was such a fool to take out that second mortgage. Oh well, no point crying over spilt milk!

See also: crying, milk, point, spilt

cry over spilt milk

To be upset over something that cannot be fixed, often something minor. Please calm down, you're just crying over spilt milk. We already submitted the report, so we can't fix it now. A: "Why is Hannah so upset?" B: "Oh, she's just crying over spilt milk. She just fell down and ripped her stockings—she'll be fine."

See also: cry, milk, spilt

It's no good/use crying over spilt milk.

  also There's no point crying over spilt milk.

something that you say which means you should not get upset about something bad that has happened that you cannot change Sometimes I regret not taking that job in London. Oh well, there's no point crying over spilt milk.

See also: crying, good, milk, spilt

cry over spilt milk, don't

Also, no use crying over spilt milk. Don't regret what cannot be undone or rectified, as in The papers you wanted went out in last week's trash, so don't cry over spilt milk. This metaphor for the inability to recover milk once it has been spilled is very old indeed, already appearing as a proverb in James Howell's Paroimiografia (1659). It is sometimes shortened to spilt milk.

See also: cry, spilt