As great a pity to see a woman weep, as to see a goose go barefoot.

Understand the thought

Meaning in plain English

The saying compares a woman’s tears with a goose’s bare feet, making her distress seem ordinary or unworthy of sympathy. It expresses dismissiveness, not a reason to disregard someone’s feelings.

What the words are saying

The goose is described as going barefoot, a condition that the comparison makes seem unremarkable. Placing a woman’s weeping beside it reduces the apparent claim of her distress on the observer’s concern. The line can function as mock sympathy: it speaks of pity while making the object of that pity appear not to deserve attention. The interpretation should retain that dismissive effect rather than use the saying to judge why someone is crying. A person’s circumstances need to be heard. Emotional expression alone does not establish the cause or severity of a problem, but neither does it justify treating the person as ridiculous.

Everyday example

A group member listens when a colleague becomes upset about an exclusion, rather than using the goose comparison to make her reaction a joke.

When to use it

Use it to examine dismissive treatment of women’s distress, not to decide whether sympathy is deserved.

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Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.