woe is me
5
8.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
ay de mí
- Oh, woe is me, for I have lost my way in the forest.
- Oh, woe is me
- O, woe is me
- say, 'woe is me'
And I just felt like so like woe is me, like life right now sucks.
- And I just felt like so like woe is me, like life right now sucks.
- Oh, woe is me, We'll say the narcissist.
- They're not just going to remain down there groveling in the dust saying woe is me, I'm nothing but a worm.
- Yet I'm not being hard on myself because you know, I, I'm not saying woe is me this or that.
- But despite all of that, one day he decided he was going to stop saying woe is me and start kicking some ass.
Examples
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Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined!'
Blog text (7) -
- Oh, woe is me.
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Then they cry out and say, "woe is me."
Blog text (8) -
Oh, woe is me!
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Woe is me.
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Woe is me.
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After failing the exam, she sighed dramatically, saying, 'Woe is me!'
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When he saw the unfortunate news, he remarked, 'Woe is me, what a shame!'
Synonyms
10
8.3
Say this when you feel unlucky and treated unfairly
A cry that shows grief or pity
An old word people say to show they feel sorry or sad
Antonyms
How Sorrowful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'woe' (sorrow) + 'is' (to belong/occur) + 'me' yields 'sorrow belongs to me' → 'I am sorrowful' or 'I feel distressed'. Although archaic in word order, the meaning can be readily derived if a learner knows the constituent words and basic grammar, so it is transparent.
Etymology
Woe is me comes from old English where woe meant great sadness and people said it as if the sadness was about me. The picture is of sorrow standing beside you and pointing at you, so the phrase became a dramatic way to say 'I am very unhappy' or 'poor me'.