A great misfortune; a very distressing thing; a DIRTY SHAME: That's a crying shame. I'll have to go see him(1881+)
Idioms and Phrases with crying shame, a
crying shame, a
An unfortunate situation, as in It's a crying shame that Bob can't find a job. This term may well come from the now obsolete to cry shame upon, meaning “express vigorous disapproval or censure,” current from about 1600 to the mid-1800s.