crocodile tears

WOTD - 19 September 2009    

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkɹɒkədaɪlˌtɪəz/
• (US) IPA: /ˈkɹɑkədaɪlˌtɪɹz/

Noun

crocodile tears

1. Plural form of crocodile tear.
2. (idiomatic) A display of tears that is forced or false.
   • 1864, Anthony Trollope, Can You Forgive Her?, chapter 19:

     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

display of tears that is forced or false

Armenian: կոկորդիլոսի արցունքներ (hy) (kokordilosi arc’unk’ner) Chinese: Mandarin: trad. 貓哭耗子假慈悲, simpl. 猫哭耗子假慈悲 (māo kū hào zi jiǎ cí bēi) Czech: krokodýlí slzy (cs) f. pl. Danish: krokodilletårer (da) c. pl. Dutch: krokodillentranen (nl) f. pl. Finnish: krokotiilinkyyneleet (fi) French: larmes de crocodile (fr) pl. German: Krokodilstränen (de) pl. Hungarian: krokodilkönnyek (hu) Icelandic: hræsnistár (is) n. pl., krókódílstár (is) n. pl., uppgerðarhryggð (is) f. Italian: lacrime di coccodrillo (it) f. pl.

Japanese: 嘘泣き (ja) (うそなき, usonaki) Korean: 악어의 눈물 (akeo-ui nunmul) Lithuanian: krokodilo ašaros (lt) f. pl. Norwegian: krokodilletårer (no) m. pl. Polish: krokodyle łzy (pl) f. pl. Portuguese: lágrimas de crocodilo (pt) f. pl. Romansch: larmas da crocodil (rm) f. pl. Russian: крокодиловы слёзы (krokodílovy sljózy) f. pl. Scottish Gaelic: deòir nam breugan (gd) f. pl. Spanish: lágrimas de cocodrilo f. pl. Swedish: krokodiltårar (sv) c. pl.

plural of crocodile tear — see crocodile tear

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Translations to be checked

Telugu: మొసలి కన్నీళ్ళు (mosali kannILLu)

See also

• insincerity
• hypocrisy