English proverb for when a solution comes too late


In Flemish we have a saying "Vijgen na pasen". Translated: "figs after Easter".
It means a solution comes too late to be of any use.


What is the English equivalent for this?


Some googling gives me "Closing the barn door when the cow has bolted", but the explanation seems to point more towards the wrong solution for a problem.



Answer



The standard idiom has to do with horses rather than cows:



closing/shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted
trying to stop something bad happening when it has already happened and the situation cannot be changed: Improving security after a major theft would seem to be a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.



While the above is not an exact match, it can be adapted to serve your needs. You could simply say that the horse has already bolted, which would implicitly connote lateness.


Other common phrases that revolve around lateness include:



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