sob story

English

sob story (plural sob stories)

(idiomatic) A sad story, especially one intended to elicit sympathy.
- 1922, Upton Sinclair, chapter 14, in They call Me Carpenter:
  "Dis picture is called De Tale o' Two Cities, and it's de French revolution. It's about a feller vot takes anodder feller's place and gits his head cut off; and say, dere's a sob story in it vot's a vunder."
- 2006, Keith Donohue, The Stolen Child‎, →ISBN, page 56:
  Mr. Martin objected at first to the bastardization of my talent, but I gave him a sob story about needing money for lessons.

sad story