Origin of an idiom: “Don’t cry over spilled milk”

Its origin takes us back to merry (?) old England. From Josephine King, Why Do We Say That? The Surprising Origins of Everyday Idioms (2017):

In sixteenth-century England, a common test to discern a witch’s identity made use of a dish of milk, known as “the devil’s supper,” to be spilled on the ground. A man or woman suspected of witchcraft was made to kneel in front of the spilled milk while the elders of the community looked on. If the suspect betrayed no emotion, he or she was deemed blameless. If, however, the suspect shed tears over the wastage of the devil’s own nourishment, he or she was deemed guilty of witchcraft. Thus the saying “Don’t cry over spilled milk” became a warning not to betray emotion in a way that would redound to one’s sorrow.

First recorded in Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller: or, the Life of Jack Wilton (1594), as advice for the player of card games: “Do not cry over spilt milke, lest they know the contents of thy hande, quoth he.”

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