Crying Crocodile Tears
To “cry crocodile tears” means to pretend to be upset or force fake tears. The idiom most likely originates from the medieval belief that crocodiles shed tears of sadness while they killed and consumed their prey. The myth dates back to the 14th century book titled “The Travels of Sir John Mandeville.” Extremely popular when published, the book recounts a knight’s adventures during his adventures in Asia. Among its many stories, the book includes a description of crocodiles as “serpents [that] slay men, and ate them weeping, and they have no tongue.” While factually wrong, Mandeville’s story of weeping reptiles later was mentioned in Shakespearean plays, and “crocodile tears” became an idiom by the 16th century.