to end in tears
4
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
terminar en lágrimas
- After weeks of planning the surprise party, I was worried it would end in tears when she found out.
- always end in tears
- almost always end in tears
- all end in tears
And when it doesn't, when it ends in tears, it ends in tears for you also, because you care.
- And when it doesn't, when it ends in tears, it ends in tears for you also, because you care.
Examples
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It can only end in tears.
Blog text (24) -
It will only end in tears.
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I told him once, I told him a thousand times, it's gonna end in tears.
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The fact that it will end in tears is usually known well in advance, but you never know when the market will actually turn.
Blog text (7) -
And that little experiment will end in tears, my friend.
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The Indian IT dream will end in tears.
Blog text (9) -
We both knew it would end in tears, but sadly it was a necessary ritual.
Academic text (2013) -
What if we don't get on and it all ends in tears?
Blog text (9) -
It'll all end in tears.
Fiction book (1997) -
It will, I am afraid, end in tears.
Blog text (29)
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to result in unhappiness or disappointment' is directly inferable from the constituents: 'end' (to finish) + 'in' (resulting in/with) + 'tears' (crying), i.e. to finish with crying. This composition is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily grasp the expression.
Etymology
End in tears paints a simple picture: something ends with tears, like a scene where people are crying at the finish. Imagine a plan that seemed good or a happy evening that finishes with people crying, so it means 'to result in unhappiness or disappointment'.