crocodile tears

[rubes05]

why are they called that

[valerieb1254]

Hi rubes,
You'll find it on the following sight, and will be of help for future references.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/t.html
Val.

[-Zorro-]

have you ever seen a croc cry...no..they have not the ability....or noone has got close enuff to see (apart from Steve Irwin)...hence croc tears are fake tears by the person who is pretending to cry

[Clanad]

Actually, crocodiles do have tears... they are used in the same way ours are, i.e., helps clean and moisten the eye after the croc has been out of the water for some time. It appears that tears are forced out the lachrymal glands when the croc bites down as well. This has led to the obvious insincerity of remorse or saddness attributed to humans who shed such tears. The phrase has a long and colorful history, according to Crocodillian Bilology Database: " Apparently the myth was in use by the 13th Century in France. A Franciscan monk called Bartholomaeus Anglicus wrote the following in his encyclopaedia of natural sciences: "If the crocodile findeth a man by the brim of the water, or by the cliff, he slayeth him there if he may, and then weepeth upon him and swalloweth him at last". C.A. Guggisberg, in his 1972 book "Crocodiles: their natural history, folklore and conservation", follows the evidence well. He notes that the 14th Century book "Mendeville's Travels" was responsible for the spread of this myth into popular culture, even making it into the work of Shakespeare".