tale of woe

English

Noun

tale of woe (plural tales of woe)

1. A description of the unfortunate things that have happened to one.
   • 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.35:

     Ivy sat there for a moment, gathering herself. "Decent and indecent," she said. "I guess it makes life easier when you can put kids in two camps and write off half of them." She reached into her big canvas bag. "Almost forgot. Mr Quirk wanted refreshments." We passed the Mint Milanos around the conference table and told our tales of woe.

See also

• sob story

Further reading

• “tale of woe”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “tale of woe”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “tale of woe” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.