cosa fatta capo ha

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “[a] thing done has [a] start [of new, future events]”. Traditionally attributed to Mosca dei Lamberti in the early 13^th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.za ˈfat.ta ˈka.po ˈa/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: cò‧sa‧fàt‧ta‧cà‧po‧hà

Proverb

cosa fatta capo ha

1. what's done is done, there's no use crying over spilt milk

   Synonyms: quel che è fatto è fatto, piangere sul latte versato

   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XXVIII”, in Inferno [Hell]‎^[1], lines 103, 106–108; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     E un […] / gridò: "Ricordera’ ti anche del Mosca, / che disse, lasso!, ’Capo ha cosa fatta’, / che fu mal seme per la gente tosca".

     And one […] cried: "You surely also remember Mosca, who—alas!—said '​What's done is done​', who was a nefarious seed for the Tuscan people."

Usage notes

• The word order in this proverb is highly irregular in modern Italian, where it would instead look like cosa fatta ha capo.

References

• capo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Further reading

• cosa fatta capo ha on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it