覆水盆に返らず

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Japanese

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Kanji in this term
ふく
Grade: S
すい
Grade: 1
ぼん
Grade: S
かえ
Grade: 3
on'yomi kun'yomi

Etymology

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Partial calque of Literary Chinese 覆水難收 (fùshuǐnánshōu, literally It is hard to retrieve spilt water). Originally read as 覆水収(ふくすいおさ)(がた) (fukusui osame-gatashi) in kanbun kundoku.

This form literally means "spilt water does not return to the basin". The back-formation of this form in pseudo-kanbun would be 覆水不返盆.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ɸɯ̟kɯ̟sɨi bo̞ɲ̟ ɲ̟i ka̠e̞ɾa̠zɨ]

Proverb

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(ふく)(すい)(ぼん)(かえ)らず (fukusui bon ni kaerazu

  1. Once a married couple divorce, they cannot reconcile.
  2. don't cry over spilt milk.

Synonyms

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