shoulder to cry on
15
3.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
hombro en el que apoyarse
- If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll drink with you.
- needed a shoulder to cry on
- wanted a shoulder to cry on
- offering a shoulder to cry on
I'm going to need a shoulder to cry on when things are tough.
- I'm going to need a shoulder to cry on when things are tough.
Examples
-
I think that you were upset about Sylvie and the divorce, and you needed a shoulder to cry on.
-
I thought you might need a good shoulder to cry on.
-
Thought you might need a real shoulder to cry on.
-
When you need a shoulder to cry on
-
Someone you can talk to, a shoulder to cry on.
-
I wanted a shoulder to cry on.
Fiction book (1999) -
And whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on, it was yours.
-
When we needed a shoulder to cry on because of problems outside our control, they listened.
Academic text (2017) -
We've found that whenever one of us needs a shoulder to cry on, the other one is always there.
Fiction book (1996) -
Whenever I'm feeling down, I know I can rely on John; he's always a shoulder to cry on.
Synonyms
5
3.4
A person who helps someone feel less sad or worried
1
4.3
A person who feels sorry for someone and shows support
1
4.0
A person who makes someone feel less sad
A person who shows sympathy to someone who has lost a loved one
A person who feels sorry for people in pain and tries to comfort them
How Supportive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'shoulder' (a part of the body used metaphorically as support) + 'to cry on' (purpose for crying), so a learner who knows the words can plausibly infer a person who offers comfort. However, the use of 'shoulder' as a metaphorical support (someone to lean on emotionally) requires mapping from the literal image to the social meaning, so it is not fully literal. Cross-linguistic parallels (e.g. Spanish 'hombro en el que llorar') make the metaphor accessible, placing it between fully predictable and idiomatic.
Etymology
Shoulder to cry on comes from the simple image of someone leaning their head on another person's shoulder while they cry, and the shoulder gives quiet support and comfort. So the phrase means 'a person who gives comfort or sympathy'.