Sob sister 意為「寫傷感文章的女記者；演傷感角色的女演員；追求至善而不切實際的人」，而 sob story 意為「傷感的故事；悲傷的故事，不幸的遭遇」，其中關鍵字 sob 是個名詞，意思是「嗚咽，啜泣」。這兩個詞都是首次出現在 19 世紀末 20 世紀初。
Sob sister 最初僅用來指寫傷感文章的女記者，後來演變成亦可指演傷感角色的女演員或追求至善而不切實際的人。複數為 sob sisters。
Sob story 最初是用來指 sob sisters 所寫的傷感的故事。但現今這個詞通常指某人爲博取他人同情而訴說的悲傷故事或不幸遭遇 (hard-luck story)。複數為 sob stories。
例句：
- Nina worked as a sob sister for her local newspaper for several years before moving on to a permanent position with the Washington Post. (妮娜在當地報社幹了幾年寫傷感文章的女記者後在《華盛頓郵報》找到了一份固定工作)
- The newspaper hired Irene as a sob sister to write about the plights of those in need of charity around the city. (這家報社雇用艾琳擔任寫傷感文章的女記者來撰寫有關本市那些需要慈善救濟者之困境的文章)
- Dora gave me another of her sob stories, this time about an argument with her husband. (多拉對我訴說她另一則悲傷的故事，這次是有關她跟她先生的爭執)
- I’ve heard nothing but sob stories today. (今天我所聽到的都是不幸的遭遇)