to cry over spilt milk

4 4.3

To waste time being upset about something that already happened and cannot be changed

idiom

: no llores sobre la leche derramada

She realized she was just crying over spilt milk after missing the deadline.
Don't cry over spilt milk

Examples

Well, no sense crying over spilled milk.

Slaughtered (2010)
It's pointless to cry over spilt milk when we need to focus on solutions.
But no use crying over spilt milk, is there?

Sex Lives of the Potato Men (2004)
No use crying over spilt milk.

The Remains of the Day (1993)
Stop crying over spilled milk.

Slaughtered (2010)
After all, no use crying over spilt milk, right?

Blog text (3)
You can't cry over spilled milk.

Talk Radio (1988)
It is no use crying over spilt milk.

Fiction book (1998)
Oh, there's no use crying over spilt milk, Lucy.

The Bowery (1933)
But it's too late to cry over spilt milk; it's spilt and that's all there is to it.

Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

to have a cow

vsto cry over spilt milk

Slang

8 9.3

Get very upset or angry about something small

is about dwelling on past events rather than sudden anger

to cry the blues

vsto cry over spilt milk

Informal

1 7.5

To feel sad and complain to others

focuses on unchangeable events and useless worry instead of general sadness

to cry a river

vsto cry over spilt milk

Informal

1 8.7

Complain a lot in a dramatic way about something that upsets you

is milder about worrying over things that cannot be changed

to cry in one's beer

vsto cry over spilt milk

Informal

9.6

To feel sorry for yourself and complain to get sympathy

is about wasting time worrying about the past rather than seeking sympathy

Antonyms

to move on

670 3.1

To start the next stage or activity and stop focusing on the past

to let it go

370 3.5

To choose not to react to something annoying

How Upset

to cry over spilt milk

4 4.3

to worry

∞ 1.0

to shrug off

27 3.9

Surface Forms

cry over spilt milk infinitive

cried over spilt milk past

cried over spilt milk past participle

crying over spilt milk present participle

cries over spilt milk third person singular

Morphology

cry + over + spilt + milk

All constituents are literal (cry, over, spilt, milk) and the phrase describes a concrete scenario, but the expression functions as a conventionalized proverb whose meaning (‘don’t be upset about what cannot be changed’) is a metaphorical extension rather than a strictly compositional one. Because the imagery is cross-linguistically common and may allow some learners to infer the general sense, yet the generalised/proverbial meaning is not fully predictable from the parts for an average B1 learner, it is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Cry over spilt milk is a simple saying that paints a clear picture: if you knock over a bowl and the milk is spilt, you cannot put it back. So, 'to cry over spilt milk' means 'to be upset or worry about something that already happened and cannot be changed'.