How did this idiom originate?
It believed to have come from fairy lore. It was thought that fairies could be attracted to a house or be appeased by making an offering at a shrine. Fairy’s favorite foods included wine, bread, fruit, honey and milk. So whenever milk was spilled, it was considered an offering to the fairies and its loss was discounted. Normally wasting food was strongly discouraged because of the difficult in feeding a family, but wasting milk was overlooked if it was an offering. If someone who spilled milk was reprimanded , the person doing the scolding was seen as willing to give this gift only grudgingly or reluctantly. This was thought to anger the fairies and bring bad luck upon the house.
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