汉语里说“泼出去的水”指事情已经成定局，无法改变。而英语中人们用 “牛奶 milk”代替“水”以描述类似的状况。成语 it's no use crying over spilt milk “奶已打翻，哭也无益”相当于汉语成语“覆水难收”，隐含的意思是事已至此，不可挽回，因此后悔也没有用，常被用来规劝他人向前看。

人们有时也会将这个表达变成 there is no use crying over spilt milk 或 don't cry over spilt milk 等形式来表达同样的含义。

例句

I'm sorry you left your camera in the taxi but it's no use crying over spilt milk. Go and get a new one!

你把照相机落在出租车里了，我深表同情，但事已至此，别再难受了。去买一台新的吧！

Don't cry over spilt milk! You left her and now she is with someone else - there is nothing you can do about it.

现在后悔已经于事无补！当初你离开了她，而如今她已经和别人在一起了，对此你什么也改变不了。

Sarah regrets rejecting the offer from that company in London. But she tells herself not to cry over spilt milk.

莎拉后悔当时拒绝了伦敦那家公司的录用机会。但她告诉自己事已至此，后悔也来不及了。