oude koeien uit de sloot halen*

* to retrieve old cows from the ditch

Dutch Netherlands

Expression USED On Occasion BY Some People

To unnecessarily bring up things from the past. It refers to the cadavers of cows that had gotten stuck and died in a ditch. The practice was to leave the body to decay there instead of retrieving it, which was a lot of work with very little benefit.

“Weet je nog toen je die trui van mij had gestolen?” “Hou op met oude koeien uit de sloot halen!”

“Remember when you stole that sweater from me?” “Stop retrieving old cows from the ditch!”