Where did the expression 'crocodile tears' come from ?

Answer 1

The first example known in English seems to be in a travel book of about 1400, The Voyage and Travail of Sir John Mandeville (I’ve modernised the spelling somewhat): “In many places of Inde are many crocodiles—that is, a manner of long serpent. These serpents slay men and they eat them weeping”. One version of the story says that the beast weeps over the head after having eaten the body, not from repentance but from frustrated gluttony: the head is simply too bony to be worth consuming.

The story was taken up by Edmund Spenser in The Fairie Queen and then by Shakespeare. Having such authorities on its side made it almost inevitable that the reference would stay in the language. For example, in the story of how the elephant got his trunk in the Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling: “ ‘Come hither, Little One,’ said the Crocodile, ‘for I am the Crocodile,’ and he wept crocodile-tears to show it was quite true”.




Shakespeare and other writers. To pretend sorrow or pitty or hurt feelings.

Answer 2

I know nothing about whether or not crocodiles actually shed tears, so I looked it up on the web. The following is a direct quote from part of the article, "To weep crocodile tears is to pretend a sorrow that one doesn’t in fact feel, to create a hypocritical show of emotion. The idea comes from the ancient belief that crocodiles weep while luring or devouring their prey... My naturalist friends tell me that crocodiles can’t cry, because they have no tear ducts—they would be useless in an animal that spends so much time in the water. The eyes can produce secretions to moisten the lids if the animal is out of the water for a while, but these are hardly tears. I am told, though, by people well versed in crocodilian biology that the glands that moisten the eyes are so close to the animal’s throat that the effort of swallowing forces moisture from them, so giving the impression of tears." Hope this helps you. There was much more to the article, I tried to include the most pertinent parts.

Answer 3

When crocodiles eat their prey, they cry or their eyes water in some way. It is said that they are crying for the victims they are eating, although it is very unlikely that the crocodile is feeling remorse. When a person is crying 'crocodile tears' it means they are not crying sincere tears, or they are faking it.
I just learned this this past Christmas from a very smart friend of mine! Check the link for all the information on crocodile tears, it's pretty interesting.

Answer 4

Meaning:

To weep crocodile tears is to put on an insincere show of sorrow.

Origin:

The allusion is to the ancient notion that crocodiles weep while devouring their prey. Crocodiles do indeed have lachrymal glands and produce tears to lubricate the eyes as humans do. They don't cry though. Whatever emotion they experience when finding and devouring prey we can be certain it isn't remorse.

There are reports of references in French that date the belief back to 1230, although I've not been able to confirm those.

The myth appeared in print in 'The Voyage and Travail of Sir John Maundeville', circa 1400:

"In that contre ... ben gret plentee of Cokadrilles ... Theise Serpentes slen men, and thei eten hem wepynge."
(In that country - there are many crocodiles - These serpents slay men, and then, weeping, eat them)

All of the very early citations refer directly to the myth of crocodiles weeping. It isn't until the 16th century that we find 'crocodile tears' used with our current meaning. Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of York and of Canterbury was the first to use the phrase with the implication of insincerity, in 1563, (re-published in Strype's Life of Grindal, 1711):

"I begin to fear, lest his humility ... be a counterfeit humility, and his tears crocodile tears."

Answer 5

It was once thought that the term reflected the behavior of crocodilians while they consumed their victims, and this belief (while probably older) is known to have existed at least as long ago as the 13th Century, when it appeared in an encyclopedia of the natural sciences compiled by Bartholomaeus Anglicus, a Franciscan monk: "If the crocodile findeth a man by the brim of the water, or by the cliff, he slayeth him there if he may, and then weepeth upon him and swalloweth him at last." This notion of crocodile emotion was imaginatively transformed into a concept of reptilian craft by the 16th Century slave-trafficker John Hawkins, who reported that the Caribbean crocodile used copious tears to lure potential victims within range of its jaws. William Shakespeare gave this interpretation wide and lasting exposure when he made Queen Margaret say of Henry VI: "...Gloucester's show/Beguiles him as the mournful crocodile/With sorrow snares relenting passengers."

Answer 6

The tale is, that crocodiles moan and sigh like a person in deep distress, to allare travellers to the spot, and even shed tears over their prey while in the act of devouring it.
a person who got bell's palsy can have what we call the crocodile tears. when branches of the facial nerves regenerates, it will become misdirected or tangled. normally, when a person sees a food, it will cause mouth to water. what happens to a person who had bell's palsy and had the crocodile tears complication is, instead of the mouth watering effect, he will shed some tears, because nerves for the mouthwatering effect got misdirected to the eyes which causes production of tears instead.

Answer 7

From crying crocodiles??

Answer 8

it comes from the belief that crocodiles weep either to lure a victim or when eating one

Answer 9

Bert Miller.

Answer 10

i always thought it came from the story of how the elephant got his trunk in the Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling