hard-luck story

美 [ˌhɑːrd ˈlʌk stɔːri]英 [ˌhɑːd ˈlʌk stɔːri]

hard-luck story

noun

诉说不幸的遭遇（为博得他人同情或帮助）
a story about yourself that you tell sb in order to get their sympathy or help

1

I asked Tony why he was late to work and he told me some hard-luck story about having to take his mother 's ageing pet poodle to the vet because it had swallowed a chicken bone .

我问托尼为什么上班迟到。他告诉我他碰到了倒霉事，他母亲那条宝贝的长卷毛狗因为咽下了一根鸡骨头，他只得送它去看兽医。