English [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ]
From the ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey.
Pronunciation [ edit ]
crocodile tear (plural crocodile tears )
( idiomatic ) A tear shed insincerely , in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion .
1877 , Charles Reade , chapter 2, in A Woman-Hater [1] :At last he contrived to squeeze out one of his little hysterical tears, and drop it on her hand. Now, the girl was not butter, like some of her sex; far from it: but neither was she wood—indeed, she was not old enough for that—so this crocodile tear won her for the time being.
( idiomatic , in the plural ) A display of tears that is forced or false .
1864 , Anthony Trollope , chapter 19, in Can You Forgive Her? :And in all her letters since, she had spoken of her aunt as a silly, vain, worldly woman, weeping crocodile tears , for an old husband whose death had released her from the tedium of his company.
Translations [ edit ]
display of tears that is forced or false
Arabic: دُمُوع اَلتَّمَاسِيح m pl ( dumūʕ at-tamāsīḥ )
Armenian: կոկորդիլոսի արցունքներ ( kokordilosi arcʻunkʻner )
Catalan: llàgrimes de cocodril f pl
Chinese:
Mandarin: 貓哭耗子假慈悲 / 猫哭耗子假慈悲 ( māo kū hàozi jiǎ cíbēi ) , 貓哭耗子 / 猫哭耗子 (zh) ( māo kū hàozi ) , 假慈悲 (zh) ( jiǎ cíbēi ) , 鱷魚的眼淚 / 鳄鱼的眼泪 (zh) ( èyú de yǎnlèi )
Czech: krokodýlí slzy f pl
Danish: krokodilletårer c pl
Dutch: krokodillentranen (nl) f pl
Finnish: krokotiilinkyyneleet pl
French: larmes de crocodile (fr) f pl
Galician: bágoas de crocodilo f pl , lágrimas de crocodilo f pl
German: Krokodilstränen (de) f pl
Greek: κροκοδείλια δάκρυα (el) n pl ( krokodeília dákrya )
Hebrew: דִּמְעוֹת תַּנִּין (he) f pl ( dim'ót tanín )
Hindi: please add this translation if you can
Hungarian: krokodilkönnyek (hu) pl
Icelandic: hræsnistár n pl , krókódílstár n pl , uppgerðarhryggð f
Indonesian: air mata buaya
Irish: deoir bhréag f , deoir bhréagach f
Italian: lacrime di coccodrillo f pl
Japanese: 嘘泣き (ja) ( うそなき, usonaki )
Korean: 악어의 눈물 ( ageo-ui nunmul )
Lithuanian: krokodilo ašaros f pl
Maori: tangi kurī
Norwegian: krokodilletårer m pl
Persian: اشک تمساح ( ašk-e temsâh )
Polish: krokodyle łzy (pl) f pl
Portuguese: lágrimas de crocodilo (pt) f pl
Romansch: larmas da crocodil f pl
Russian: крокоди́ловы слёзы f pl ( krokodílovy sljózy )
Scottish Gaelic: deòir nam breugan m pl
Spanish: lágrimas de cocodrilo (es) f pl
Swedish: krokodiltårar (sv) c pl
Telugu: మొసలి కన్నీళ్లు (te) ( mosali kannīḷlu ) , మొసలికన్నీరు (te) ( mosalikannīru )
Turkish: timsah gözyaşları
Ukrainian: крокодиля́чі сльо́зи (uk) f pl ( krokodyljáči slʹózy )
Welsh: dagrau crocodeil m pl , wylofain crocodeil m
See also [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]