snot en trane, noun phrase

Forms:
Also snot and trane.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, snot snot, nasal mucus + en and + trane tears.
slang
‘Snot and tears’, symbolizing misery, or maudlin or sentimental behaviour; snot and tears. Often attributive.
1970 M. Bronslow Informant, Cape Town, Western CapeShe was crying snot and trane (crocodile tears).
1971 G. Massyn Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)Needless to say I was all snot and trane last night when Mommy had left.
1972 Cape Times 25 Mar. 5Nerina Ferreira..plays a snot-en-trane prima donna gone to seed.
1972 Sunday Times 24 Sept. 19We must get away from the traditional ‘snot and trane’ and capture realism in Afrikaans theatre.
1978 Speak Vol.1 No.5, 41Our cinematic myths are empty, superficial, mindless, still at the ‘snot en trane’ stage.
1979 Daily Dispatch 13 Feb. 2All the snot en trane of last week’s no-confidence debate gave way yesterday to an afternoon of amicable agreement on a whole list of vital issues.
1981 Daily Dispatch 10 Mar. 7There must be more of a future for us all than eternal snot en trane, presuming we don’t cease upon the midnight first.
1985 Fair Lady 20 Feb. 47Tears and triumphs, passion and shame, snot en trane.
1988 E. Prov. Herald 13 Feb. 1A heightened sense of momentous poignancy delicately tinged by a pinch of ‘Snot and/or Trane’.
1990 J. Hobbs in New Contrast Winter 70It doesn’t quite pass the first-few-pages test with its rather slow, traditional snot-en-trane start.
‘Snot and tears’, symbolizing misery, or maudlin or sentimental behaviour; snot and tears. Often attributive.
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