Have you seen the phrase 'cry me a river' and would like to know more behind the context and meaning of the saying? It is a common saying in the English language, often used to add drama in a mocking context. This post unpacks the origin and meaning of this saying.
Meaning
The phrase 'cry me a river' is a common quoted expression that is used to add dramatic effect, or to mock an event or phrase that someone has just said.
The phrase 'cry me a river' is used to mean that someone is being overly dramatic about something, or that an unnecessary amount of hype is being made about something small.
If someone says the phrase 'cry me a river' it is most often said to mock something that another speaker has said as overly dramatic or unnecessary.
The phrase can be said to someone as a direct reference, but the phrase can also be used to talk about a third-party in conversation.
The most common use of the phrase is as a mocking exclamation, often in response to someone or something.
The phrase is used as a whole and it's not common use for the phrase to be shortened further.
The word 'river' is never used in any plural form, and the expression can be used as-is to refer to one person (or thing), or to several.
Example Usage
“I think an imposed fourteen days of mourning for my dead grandmother is a bit much, don't you? I mean, cry me a river, she's dead but she wasn't famous or very much loved by anyone in the family.”
“If you don't like to have any pineapple on your pizza, just cry me a river and get it over with. That's the way the Joneses like their pizza.”
“I don't really care what you thought about the movie. Cry me a river, we should have just watched Star Wars.”
“Cry me a river! I think you're being overly dramatic when you think that your dad was responsible for that whole disaster.”
Origin
The phrase 'cry me a river' is a common English language phrase that tracks its origin and first use back to a popular 1950s song.
The song entitled 'Cry Me a River' was first released in the 1950s, intended for Ella Fitzgerald but instead made famous at the time by Julie London.
The eventual use of the song in movies and other popular media would enter the phrase into pop culture. Later covers of the song would bring attention back to the phrase in the 1990s and early 2000s, with the phrase becoming a continued cultural reference.
The saying would become popular, and eventually become listed as an officially defined term in the dictionary.
The phrase 'cry me a river' has been used as a modern cultural reference, and might appear as part of a conversation or as a hashtag.
Phrases Similar to Cry Me A River
- Much ado about nothing
Phrases Opposite to Cry Me A River
- Warm heart
What is the Correct Saying?
- Cry me a river
- Why don't you cry me a river
- Just cry me a river
Ways People May Say Cry Me A River Incorrectly
There are several ways in which someone can misuse or misunderstand the term 'cry me a river'.
The phrase is meant to be used as a mocking exclamation, where it implies that the person it is being said to (or about) is being overly dramatic.
Incorrect use of the phrase would be to 'cry me a rivers' which does not make grammatical sense.
Wrong use of the phrase can also be to use it in the wrong context.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Cry Me A River
The correct way to use the phrase 'cry me a river' is to imply that someone is overly dramatic, and often that the speaker does not care about the person's drama.
'Cry me a river' is used as a whole phrase.