Since ancient times, many peoples have believed that the crocodile is crying when it eats its prey. And it seems that he is crying out of pity for the one he is now eating. Since “this cannot be, because it can never be,” then the expression crocodile tears(or shedding crocodile tears) in a figurative sense means to hypocritically show regret to one’s victim, to hypocritically worry, to show feigned condolences.
In fact, a crocodile has glands under its eyes through which excess salt is removed from the body. , which looks very similar to tears. By the way, our human tears also partially perform the function of removing salts - try your tears on your tongue - they are salty.
Crocodile tears- one of the few absolutely international phraseological units. It has been known since the time ancient Rome. In Rome it meant “to shed tears over the vanquished.” IN German dictionaries it looks like Krokodilstranen, V English language direct analogue - Crocodile tears.
In general, shedding crocodile tears among all nations means falsely, insincerely showing regret or sympathy for someone whom they themselves have destroyed.
During the heyday of the art song, the song “Monologue of the Nile Crocodile” was popular at bard festivals. I first heard about it in song back in 1979! The lyrics are cool, the guitar accompaniment is very simple - three chords.
Monologue of the Nile crocodile
I crawled out of the Nile onto the coastal sand,
Having eaten a cow's forehead.
And now crocodile tears are flowing down
On the sad cheeks into the toothy mouth.
I touch my swollen belly with my paw,
And the memories come again
That she was such a moonhorn,
Full of fire and charm.
She walked to the water with a tired gait,
Leaning over, she drank it, cold.
Then I kissed her on her scarlet lips,
And a hungry passion floated through my heart.
Oh, why did I like you so much?
Why were you irresistible?
Why did you return the kiss to me, beauty...
Where are you now, my beloved????...
It's good to lie down and soak in the sun,
And stroke the swollen belly with your paw....
I know everything will pass, everything will be digested....
Only tears are dripping and tears are dripping...
Alexander Bystritsky
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The crocodile is crying. Phraseologism in pictures.
The expression "crocodile tears" has long story and a very simple explanation. When a crocodile eats its victim, it crawls out of the water and tears well up in its eyes, and the crocodile’s eyes are not covered with eyelids. The only thing that the expression does not explain is where people watched the crocodile so closely. This is the most interesting thing!
Crocodile tears expression originates in the history of theater, in the Greek city-polises. The Greek polis was a city-state. There was always a theater on its outskirts. The Greek theater was similar in shape to a modern stadium, only the raised benches were made of stone, and the field was an oval similarity to the field of a modern stadium. The “field,” as now, was divided into two parts, separated by a ditch. And the ditch was filled with water and crocodiles swam in it.
Tragedies were played in one part of the field, and comedies in the other. These genres were also invented by the ancient Greeks. The earliest comedies that have come down to us belong to Aristophanes. They were written around 425 BC. e. Aristophanes' comedies have no plot - they are just funny, incoherent scenes. On a scaffold built on the “comedy” half of the stage, people in grotesque masks and skins are jumping. All other ancient comedies looked something like this. But the comedy was performed at the end of the performance.
But at the beginning they played a tragedy. Tragedy is younger than comedy. A real tragedy required both a chorus and a plot, and it arose from a ritual sacrifice to Dionysus. And therefore, even before the appearance of complex works, slaves were simply released into the second half of the “field” - against wild animals or simply against each other, which is of course cheaper. When the battle was over, the blood was washed off and the remains were thrown into the ditch. The tragedy ended like that - the crocodiles ate the remains, crawled out of the water and “cryed.” And on the second half of the stage, a comedy was being played. People laughed and took any joke seriously.
« Crying crocodiles» were well remembered by the ancient Greeks. From the Greeks phraseological unit passed to the Romans as an idiom of feigned regret over the vanquished, then found its way into books in Latin. This expression entered the Russian language when translated from the German word Krokodilstränen (“German-Latin and Russian Lexicon” by Weissmann, 1731). It is also found in many other modern languages.
In the Russian language there is such a phrase as “crocodile tears”, which each of us has probably heard at least once. This phrase paints before us the image of a crocodile shedding tears and wiping them with a handkerchief. What does the expression “crocodile tears” mean? Do crocodiles really cry? Below you will find answers to all these questions.
Crocodile tears - the meaning of phraseology
The Russian language is rich in various expressions that have a figurative meaning and are often understandable only to Russian people. One of these is the phraseological unit “crocodile tears”. What is the meaning of the phrase “crocodile tears”?
“Crocodile tears” means insincere tears, hypocritical and feigned regret, false compassion. It is noteworthy that the phraseological unit “crocodile tears” is one of the few that is used not only in the Russian language. It is also found in many other languages.
The expression “crocodile tears” is used in relation to those people who pretend to be overly upset by the trouble or misfortune of someone to whom they themselves caused it.
But in reality these people don't experience negative emotions, but only pretend and even rejoice at the troubles of those people for whom they prepared them. They say about such a person that he “sheds crocodile tears.”
Why do crocodiles cry?
Since ancient times, there has been a legend that a crocodile cries over its prey during a meal. But a crocodile is a bloodthirsty and terrible predator. The crocodile's tears are unlikely to be a manifestation of emotion or remorse for the murdered victim. Indeed, crocodile tears have nothing to do with compassion or regret. This is how the international phraseology “crocodile tears” arose.
So why do crocodiles cry? All these beliefs from ancient times about the tears of a crocodile prompted scientists to clarify this controversial issue. Researchers have made many observations of these predators. And it turns out that crocodiles really cry, but not out of pity.
In fact, everything is very simple, and crocodile tears are just a way to remove salts from the body. The thing is that crocodiles suffer from excess salts in the body. And in order to reduce their level, crocodiles have special glands that are located in the eye area.
All reptiles of the genus true crocodiles have such special glands. For example, in the Nile crocodile. When too many salts accumulate in a crocodile, the glands begin to actively work and cause tears.
Thus, the crocodile cries only when it needs to remove salts from the body. Along with the crocodile's tears, unnecessary harmful substances also come out. This is an unusual feature of these predators, which has nothing to do with the feeling of compassion of crocodiles for their victims.
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The Russian language is rich in catch phrases, phraseological units and aphorisms that accompany life and communication between people, often making it possible to most accurately describe a person’s emotion, behavior, character or situation. In this article we will analyze the origin of the expression “crocodile tears”, which is very entertaining, like many other stable phrases of our language.
The meaning of phraseology
Many of us from early childhood understand or intuitively feel what this phraseological unit means. For those who don't know, let's explain what we mean. “Shedding crocodile tears” means insincerely lamenting and empathizing with the failure, misfortune or trouble of another, often being the culprit of what happened.
People who “shed crocodile tears” pretend to show sympathy and pity, while experiencing absolutely nothing of the kind inside, and perhaps secretly gloating and mocking. Deceit, deceit, pretense - these are the qualities, which most accurately characterize such people.
But you need to understand that this is not always what happens, and people who “shed crocodile tears” were the cause of the misfortune that occurred. So, good example An illustration of the other side of the expression “crocodile tears” is insincere condolences and feelings about the death of a stranger. After all, if we think logically, condolences are completely meaningless; they bring neither support nor relief from the suffering of other people. On the contrary, experiences that are exposed and not coming from the heart only irritate the wound.
It should be said that often this happens not even on the initiative of the sympathizer, “shedding crocodile tears,” but simply because it is so accepted. Death is the fate of everyone, and we should regret it a priori.
“Okay, but what do crocodiles have to do with it?” each of us will ask. And indeed, why are such negative characteristics suddenly compared to large reptiles, which also cry? Let's look into history and trace the origin of the phrase.
Origin
Turns out, the expression goes back centuries, during the times of ancient Egypt and Rome.
Scientific explanation
Indeed, the fact that when eating food, a certain liquid resembling tears is released from the eyes of a crocodile is beyond doubt. Very for a long time people did not find any other explanation for this, except that, having killed the prey and starting a bloody meal, the crocodile, being an impressionable animal with a subtle mental organization, cries and reproaches itself, but cannot do anything with its nature. But such a view was understandable and acceptable in ancient times. Nowadays, scientists have taken the issue seriously and come to quite scientific conclusions:
So, the usual physiological feature of ferocious predators, in no way connected with deceit, pretense, insincere and false compassion for the victim, served as the basis for superstitions and firmly entered the language and consciousness of peoples. Therefore, even knowledge and understanding the real reason“crocodile tears” did not cause the expression to disappear and lose its former popularity. Imagery of people's thinking, conciseness and accuracy of characterization will always be stronger than any scientific arguments.
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In the Russian language you can find sayings and proverbs that have their roots deep in world history. However, many people still have no idea about their ancient origins. Therefore, our website tries to briefly talk about the meaning and significance of such catchphrases. Add this resource to your bookmarks so as not to lose it in this vast ocean of information. Today we will talk about a funny phrase, this Crocodile tears, you can read the meaning a little later.
However, before continuing, I would like to tell you about a couple more interesting publications on the topic of phraseological units. For example, what does it mean to go into a rage; which means Give a head start; the meaning of the expression Where the eyes look; how to understand the Colossus with Feet of Clay, etc.
So let's continue What does crocodile tears mean?? This expression was borrowed from German language "Krokodilstranen", from an old German belief that when a crocodile devours its prey, it cries.
Crocodile tears- these are insincere regrets, feigned condolences
What does Crocodile Tattoo mean?
Even in ancient Egypt, local residents considered Nile crocodiles as carriers of otherworldly evil forces. The frightened aborigines, in order to pity these terrible creatures, began to feed them and pray to them in order to pacify their rage and anger.
An ancient Greek scientist named Aelian ( Greek military writer, lived in Rome under the emperors Trajan and Hadrian around 98 - 138), mentioned in one of his treatises that the crocodile is a rather cunning creature that is capable of taking water into its mouth and waiting for prey. As soon as a person or animal begins to go down the path, he immediately throws a stream of water out of his mouth, after which he waits for the victim to slip and go into his mouth.
Other ancient explorers reported witnessing crocodile Having devoured a person, he begins to shed tears that drip onto the remains of the meal.
In one of the Russian explanatory dictionaries 17th century, which was called "Azbukovnik", there are several lines about this ferocious predator. " A crocodile lives in water... When it starts to eat a person, then it sobs and cries, but does not stop eating, and, tearing its head away from the body, looks at it and chokes on tears."
Similar behavior has been observed in antiquities, and gave rise to the formation of phraseological units, which are known today among many nations.
It remains to be seen whether these reptiles really shed tears when swallowing their victims?
Until recently, this issue remained a mystery, “closed under seven seals.” More Erasmus of Rotterdam, trying to logically substantiate this expression, expressed the idea that the crocodile does not shed tears at all, but drool.
Many centuries have passed since that time, and thanks to inquisitive mind German scientists Schmidt-Nielsen and Fange, the answer they had been looking for for a long time was finally found.
It turns out that the crocodile has special glands for rejecting excess salty liquid from the body. Their excretory ducts are located right next to the eyes of these modern dinosaurs. As a result, it becomes clear that some people witnessed the work of these glands during their meals.
From all of the above we can conclude that " crocodile tears" - these are tears of hypocrisy and deceit. In fact, these secretions cannot be fully called tears at all. However, this expression has survived to this day, and will probably be used for hundreds of years.
Even if these same reptiles disappear, the proverb will remain as a reminder to future generations of the existence of real dinosaurs in the past. It is possible that some old tales about the Serpent Gorynych have a real basis, but that is another story.
After reading this short publication, you will now be aware of Crocodile tears meaning and the origin of this curious
