Spilt Milk

[gizmo1]

Does anyone know the origin of this saying?

"No use crying over spilt milk"

Having recently given birth, I wondered if it came from women who lost babies early on and continued to lactate but could only weep as their milk spilt uselessly but is it less sad than that?

[Quizmonster]

The earliest recorded use of the phrase was by Jonathan Swift in the 1730s. However, since water has also been used in the saying in place of milk, it seems doubtful that your idea as to the explanation is correct. Still, it's a nice idea.

[jno]

I'm pretty sure it just means that you can't get the milk back off the floor again so there's no point wasting time regretting that it was spilt.

[gizmo1]

Thank you for such erudite and sensible answers.

[momac]

I think yours was the nicest explanation Gizmo 1.

[Quizmonster]

That's more or less what I said in my earlier answer, Momac. Sadly, however, there isn't a shred of evidence to support it and it's never a good idea to create folk etymology...ie made-up stories to explain the origins of words and phrases.
Goodness knows...there's enough of that around already! To give just one example, it seems that almost everyone is convinced the word posh is an acronym of Port Out Starboard Home, referring to the sailing journey to and fro India in the days of the Raj. It isn't.

[londonlove]

I am more worried about the phrase that it is a 'nice idea'!

[Quizmonster]

It was a 'nice idea' because it's good to see people wondering how some linguistic point came into being and putting forward a theory to explain it. The fact that they often get it wrong is neither here nor there, in that respect, as long as the error does not take general hold.
I agree, however, that useless lactation in itself is not particularly 'nice'!

[londonlove]

Yes, QM, I had gathered your general meaning and I share your enthusiasm for linguistic theory but there is a place for tactful expression even within the bounds of etymological discourse.

Thank you for your helpful contributions - I am always impressed by your very great knowledge and grateful for the way that you share it generously. I did not mean to seem impolite and hope that you did not take my comment as such.

School children nowadays are usually forbidden from using the word 'nice' and I have never seen before how it could cause problems, but it does seem strange in this context.

[Quizmonster]

Thank you for your very kind comments, LL. I certainly did not take offence at your original answer.
When I decided to respond, I even considered referring to 'nice' in its old sense of calling for very fine discrimination. Isn't it a shame that a blanket ban on using the word means we have lost such delightful shades of meaning? Cheers

[gizmo1]

Indeed QM, if we are going into original meanings of 'nice', can it not also mean 'apt' or 'pleasing', which may be a fair assessment of my posited (though incorrect) theory? By the way, let me echo your lament for lost meanings of words. My particular bugbear is the misuse of decimate, which is now so widespread that it is pretty much accepted.

[Quizmonster]

Quite, Gizmo. On a quick skim through the entry, The Oxford English Dictionary lists about 40 shades of meaning for 'nice' alone!