cry over spilled milk is a popular expression in the Portuguese language, used in the sense of complain or be sad about something bad that has already happened.
From this phrase, another expression that was very popular among Brazilians emerged: "no use crying over spilled milk", which means not worth it regret something that has already passed. This expression can vary, according to some regions, to "no use crying over spilled milk". Typically, these expressions are used in a console context.
Example: "You crashed the car that had no insurance, but now it's not worth crying over spilled milk".
According to the Almanaque Brasil da Cultura Popular, the origin of the popular saying "crying over spilled milk" came from a peasant story.
A young peasant girl carried a bucket of milk over her head and, distracted thinking about the things she would buy with the money she received from the sale of the product, she ended up tripping, falling and spilling all the milk through the floor. Upon seeing the scene, the young woman came to the conclusion that it would not be practical to regret a fact that had already occurred, as she would do nothing with that situation if it could be remedied.
The English translation of "crying over spilled milk" or "no use crying over spilled milk" is crying over spike milk or there's no use crying over split milk.
Example: "Sometimes I regret not taking that job in London. Well, there’s no use crying over spilt milk" ("Sometimes I regret not taking that job in London. Well, it's no use crying over spilled milk").