Crocodile tears

For other uses, see Crocodile Tears (disambiguation).
A cartoon by Bernhard Gillam depicting Ulysses S. Grant courting Jewish voters by crying "crocodile tears" over the persecution of Jews in Russia. The cartoon contrasts Grant's expressions of outrage with his own earlier military order to expel Jews from within his lines. He received a majority of the Jewish vote in the 1868 presidential election and went on to place a record number of Jewish people into high office up to that point in time.

Crocodile tears, or superficial sympathy, is a false, insincere display of emotion such as a hypocrite crying fake tears of grief. The phrase derives from an ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey, and as such is present in many modern languages, especially in Europe where it was introduced through Latin. While crocodiles do have tear ducts, they weep to lubricate their eyes, typically when they have been out of water for a long time and their eyes begin to dry out. However, evidence suggests this could also be triggered by feeding.

Bogorad's syndrome, a condition which causes sufferers to shed tears while consuming food, has been labelled "crocodile tears syndrome" in reference to the legend.