tale of woe

tale of woe (plural tales of woe)

1. A narrative or description of one's problems or misfortunes.
   • 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.35:

     Ivy sat there for a moment, gathering herself. "Decent and indecent," she said. "I guess it makes life easier when you can put kids in two camps and write off half of them." She reached into her big canvas bag. "Almost forgot. Mr Quirk wanted refreshments." We passed the Mint Milanos around the conference table and told our tales of woe.

• sob story

• “tale of woe”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “tale of woe”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “tale of woe” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.