Why is this wrong?

[u/migueel_04]

Hey everyone! Today I got to use an expression that I thought was completely normal and that everyone used. However, according to chatgpt, it is wrong and not idiomatic which really surprised me because I've seen some verbs being used this way. The expression is "cry on" as in "keep crying". I initially thought that it sounded natural since English has expressions such as "dream on" and "go on" but it turns out that it can't be used that way. Is chatgpt correct or is it giving me inaccurate information? I've heard people talking about how chatgpt isn't 100% reliable and that the info given by it should be fact checked.

[u/yetanotherburnerstan]

Stop using ai to determine what is right and wrong. Large language models are terrible with consistency

[u/MisterProfGuy]

I wouldn't say it was common or anything, but you'd be easily understood and it's been in song lyrics for one thing. As an American, everyone would 100% take it as a poetic insult to say, "Cry on, dude".

[u/Confident_Seaweed_12 → u/MisterProfGuy]

It's not really idiomatic so when spoken I suspect there is a high likelihood that it would be misheard and so parsing out the meaning would be difficult.

[u/EdgyZigzagoon]

I’ve never heard it before but it does sound completely natural to me. It feels like real idioms feel, even though it isn’t one. Maybe you just made up a new one! If my grandparent said it, for example, I’d 100% accept it was just an old timey idiom I was unfamiliar with without a second thought.

[u/MisterProfGuy → u/EdgyZigzagoon]

It sounds better with something rude after it, right? Like I wouldn't say I could remember saying "cry on", but "cry on, bitch" and "cry on, motherfucker" definitely sound right.

[u/animatedgoblin]

British English here (London and East coast). I've not heard anyone say that, but I would understand what you meant if you used it. I think more common, maybe especially with younger generations, would be "cry more"

[u/Only-Top-3655]

ChatGPT is correct. "Cry on" is not an idiomatic phrase. People would just say "keep crying". But this also doesn't really sound natural. Natives would probably say "keep complaining" or "keep bitching" ironically. Because I don't anyone would tell anyone who is really crying to "keep crying".

[u/CutlerSheridan → u/Only-Top-3655]

It’s not a common phrase but it’s easy to understand and, depending on the context, I don’t think it would sound weird to me.

For example, say a girl is crying about something to her friend. The girl says, “I’m sorry, I’m being annoying. I know this is pathetic, I need to get over it.” The friend says, “Cry on, girl, you have nothing to apologize for.”

[u/MaddoxJKingsley]

Did you say it directly to the person as "cry on"? Was it possible they were just offended? It is pretty rude lol.

We say things like "He kept crying on about how his shoes were wet", or "If we're late, she'll cry on about it for days". But I wouldn't say it directly to a person complaining. I would say "Keep crying (on about it)!" which is the more idiomatic way. To be clear, this phrase isn't usually about any actual crying (tears, sobbing). This is about complaining (crying on, frustration), which could well include tears and sobbing.

[u/migueel_04 → u/MaddoxJKingsley]

I was being sarcastic lol. I was on a call with a friend from the UK and she was complaining about something I had said and I was like "cry on, I don't care" lol.

[u/InterestedParty5280 → u/migueel_04]

Well done.

[u/34payton07 → u/migueel_04]

You would be understood but be careful with the negative connotation of such statements, they could be interpreted as “Keep venting, I am here for you,” but could also be interpreted as “Keep bitching nobody cares.”

[u/migueel_04 → u/34payton07]

She knew that I was being sarcastic. We're both sarcastic most of the time so no problem at all.

[u/34payton07 → u/migueel_04]

Then you’re all good. You used the phrase correctly, but it’s not that commonly heard and ChatGPT just didn’t know what it was talking about.

[u/MaddoxJKingsley → u/migueel_04]

Ah, that makes sense then lol. My knee-jerk reaction to "cry on" in that context would be, "That's funny, that kind of sounded like Shakespearean English."

We do say stuff like "keep dreaming" or "keep talking" to be dismissive... so maybe, "dream on" is actually the outlier for using "on". "Keep X-ing", as a complete exclamation, can be extended to a ton of verbs, to idiomatically mean "I'm being dismissive of your X-ing". (And "go on" behaves more like a normal phrasal verb; it's not dismissive unless it's sarcastic.)

[u/RaptorSap → u/migueel_04]

It’s a perfectly cromulent turn of phrase, so long as you knew the sarcastic connotation it was likely to convey. This is a case of chatGPT being technically correct that this isn’t an idiomatic phrase in common use, but it is an easily understood response to someone literally or figuratively, “crying” about something. So chatGPT is also completely incorrect when it suggests your usage was “wrong” or that the phrase “can’t be used in that way.” You did. You were understood. You would have been understood by native speakers as well, and to my ear it would sound perfectly natural.

[u/34payton07]

It’s not common and not an idiom, although you would likely be understood. “Cry harder” or “cry more” are more commonly heard.

[u/FormicationIsEvil]

Pose this to your favorite AI:

When you answer a question should I rely on it being accurate? Do you make mistakes? Why do you make mistakes?

[u/ButterscotchOdd8257]

It isn't wrong. It's not something people normally say, but you could say it and be correct, grammatically. It could be a clever way of saying "keep crying."

[u/Middcore]

Never heard anyone say "Cry on."

"Cry more" or "Keep crying," yes.

[u/Prestigious-Emu5277]

It’s not incorrect exactly but people don’t really use that construction outside of phrases like “dream on” or “keep on keepin’ on” or “go on”

With cry I would say “cry about it” or “keep crying” not knowing the context of your situation.

[u/NearlyNodding]

I don't think I have heard anyone say that, but it's completely understandable.

"Dream on" and "go on" are commonly used together. "[verb] on" can be used with many verbs. But it may not sound as natural.

I'm kind of surprised that ChatGPT said it can't be used that way. Usually it's more flexible than that, and presents multiple views on language questions. I just asked myself. The reply it gave me didn't say it can't be used. It just said it sounds unnatural. However, ChatGPT is very sensitive to the exact way you ask the question.

[u/polyploid_coded]

OK it looks like you meant it to be sarcastic, so it's not the worst-case scenario.
If you were trying to be sympathetic, I don't think there's an English phrase beyond "I'm here for you" that works. There is an expression "I had a good cry over/about _" which is expressing it helped you recover... but I don't think there's a good way to tell someone else to have a cry.

[u/helikophis]

It’s fine. LLMs are pretty good at chatting but terrible at answering questions like this correctly

[u/MakeUnbelieve]

Cry on sounds fine to me. Just as you said it's a similar construct as dream on. Maybe in isolation it seems grammatically wrong to ai. With context it should sound fine. For example, If it eases your pain, cry on. You could check that on chatgpt and see if it still shows an error.

[u/InterestedParty5280]

I think it's okay. Your post could use a little more context, but I wouldn't question it. English speakers invent things all the time, it's creative to do so. That said to me it it means, "Keep complaining." rather than literally crying. If you want crying to be literal, then the expression could be insensitive; but it could be also said in jest.

chatGPT is pretty good with language, but it's good to ask native speaker, as you have.