student asking question

What does "woe" mean?

teacher

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.

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