覆水难收

Pronunciation: fù shuǐ nán shōu Literal meaning: Spilled water hard to recover

Origin & Usage

This descends from the story of Jiang Ziya, whose wife left him during his years of poverty and sought to return once he had risen. He poured a basin of water on the ground and invited her to gather it up. Water once overturned (覆水) cannot be recovered (难收). The story is unsentimental about the asymmetry: he is under no obligation, and the water is not coming back. An act whose consequences are not going to be taken back.

Examples

English: "After revealing confidential information, he realized some mistakes cannot be undone"

Chinese: 在泄露机密信息后，他意识到有些错误无法挽回