woe is me
Used to show that the speaker feels distress or miseryUsed to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.
Meaning
1 senses(humorous, sometimes)Used to show that the speaker feels distress or misery; humorous use usually also signals self-awareness regarding excessive self-pity.
wehe mir, weh mir
го́ре мнеgóre mne
Examples
6 sentencesWoe is me!
Горе мені! — deniko
ruБедный я! — Ooneykcall
It is better to say "woe is me" than "woe is us".
If I lose, woe unto me on that day!
Woe is me, my son hasn't returned since he went away!
Oh, woe is me!
ruОх, горе мне, горе! — marafon
deO weh mir! — Waldelfe
Translations
7 languagesOrigin
The pronoun me in this expression is not semantically vacuous beyond its reference to theThe pronoun me in this expression is not semantically vacuous beyond its reference to the first person singular (and thus simply equated with the subject by copular be, as in this is me), but a relational dative (literally woe is to me, i.e. woe is upon me; compare German weh mir). Cognate with Yiddish וויי איז מיר (vey iz mir).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.