beats a dead horse
Argues settled matters
To beat a dead horse is to persist with an argument, topic, or effort that has already been exhausted or resolved.
The image is of continued flogging when further effort is pointless: I know I'm beating a dead horse, but we really should have taken that offer.
The phrase often signals self-awareness that one is belaboring a point.
- stubbornnessRefusal to yield
- futilityLack of purpose
- redundancyNeedless duplication
- naggingPersistent bothering or complaining
- overkillUnnecessary additional effort
insistence · barking up the wrong tree · obsession · belaboring · making a mountain out of a molehill · perseverance · exhaustion · reiteration · flogging · lost cause · white elephant · repetition · kicking the can down the road · pointlessness · determination · going in circles · spinning your wheels · ad nauseam
beats a dead horsemakes hay while the sun shines
Capitalizes on favorable circumstances
gets results · moves the needle · makes headway · carpe diem · bears fruit
beats a dead horselets sleeping dogs lie
Avoids reopening settled matters
moves on · turns the page · buries the hatchet · cuts one's losses
beat, beats, beating, beaten, beater, dead, deadly, deadness, deaden