这个短语的字面解释是“因为牛奶撒了哭泣”，这是什么意思呢？请看对话：

    A: My car was heavily damaged in an accident and was no longer functional.

    B: It’s no use crying over spilt milk. You have to send for a tow truck and have it repaired at a garage.

    Note: When something bad happens and nothing can be done to help it, people say, “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” Or, it is said as “it’s no use crying over spilt milk,” which means that getting upset over certain things, like spilt milk, is not going to fix it. It’s believed that James Howell, a historian and writer, used the phrase in one of his literary works in 1659, called “Paramoigraphy” (Proverbs). Supposedly it reads: “No weeping for shed milk.” This would mean that this idiom is at least over 350 years old.