Emphasis Added!

Filed Under: The “Something New” I Learned Today

In my last post, I mentioned shedding crocodile tears after watching a particularly touching Chrome Ad

Shortly after publishing, a reader left a comment saying “I’m sure you meant otherwise, but crocodile tears are fake.”

Confused by her comment, I Googled “Crocodile Tears” only to find that the expression does not mean “Big Tear Drops” as I have incorrectly used it for past 30 years of my life….rather, according to Wikipedia:

Crocodile tears (or superficial sympathy) are a false or insincere display of emotion such as a hypocrite crying fake tears of grief. The expression comes from an ancient anecdote that crocodiles weep in order to lure their prey, or that they cry for the victims they are eating. This tale was first spread widely in the stories of the travels of Sir John Mandeville in the 14th century.[1]

Well, I’ll be!  I had no idea.  Am I the only one who totally didn’t know this?

((Wait, does that mean there is no phrase to describe over-sized tear drops that roll down your face?  Did we just identify a lexical gap?))

5/4/2011  44 notes  comments  
  1. my-own-melt reblogged this from emphasisadded
  2. jjgraich said: WHAT? my whole life has been a lie.
  3. unpredictablemusings said: I didn’t know that either… I love learning something new each day. =)
  4. truelifeiliveinnyc said: I had absolutely no clue. I always pictured a cartoon crocodile crying the largest cartoon tears. Learn something new everyday.
  5. dearbaby said: I always assumed just like you that it meant to cry in a dramatic manner - no idea that it meant to fake cry!
  6. forever-insatiable said: Woah…I thought the same thing you did! Learn something new every day.
  7. lauracorrigan84 reblogged this from emphasisadded and added:
    So weird - only Saturday night...said thats what I do, big crocodile tears, (during...
  8. muchlovekris said: I had no idea!!!!
  9. mrsbostwick said: I never knew this either…. omg… I been using it wrong my whole life too.
  10. debra3188 said: Well! You learn something new everyday! I never knew that!
  11. itisinthelittlethings reblogged this from emphasisadded and added:
    re-blog this. You really do learn something new everyday. I’ve always used this. Interesting…
  12. alexash said: We always use the term to describe when little kids or babies cry just to get attention :) (In the cute way, not the super obnoxious someone-needs-to-shut-that-kid-up way, of course!)
  13. gracelandmomma said: This is funny because mothers all over the world have used that term when their kids cry for no reason. You learned it just in time.
  14. kristinintheuk said: Well this is news to me too. I always use that phrase!
  15. emphasisadded posted this