What does "woe" mean?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
The word "woe" is usually used when talking about extreme sadness, however here "tale of woe" is actually an idiom. A "tale of woe" is story talking about your personal problems or grievances, especially when used as an excuse for some failure. Ex: I listened to her tale of woe without saying anything. Ex: This tale of woe that we have all been getting from Kelly is just too much.