Eye-water

noun EYE-waa-ta ˈaɪ waːta

Also spelled eye water, yeye-water

Tears — literally the water of the eye. 'Eye-water run dung har face' means tears ran down her face. It appears in tender and sorrowful talk, and in the proverb-like saying that some people can shed 'crocodile eye-water' — false tears — to get sympathy.

  • Di eye-water juss a run dung him face.

    The tears just ran down his face.

  • She bawl till she nuh have no more eye-water.

    She cried until she had no more tears.

  • A pure crocodile eye-water dat.

    Those are pure crocodile tears.

From 'eye' + 'water', a transparent Patois compound for tears. See [[cry-cry]], [[bawl]].

Tears; 'crocodile eye-water' = false tears. See [[cry-cry]], [[bawl]].