crying shame, a

crying shame, a idiom
An unfortunate situation, as in It's a crying shame that Bob can't find a job. This term may well come from the now obsolete to cry shame upon, meaning “express vigorous disapproval or censure,” current from about 1600 to the mid-1800s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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