read-someone-the-riot-act

Verb

(idiomatic) To scold or berate somebody; to reprimand.
She really read him the riot act about his smoking habit.

Origin

From read the Riot Act (“give a formal warning to a riotous assembly by reading a prescribed portion of the Riot Act, UK, 1715-1967”)

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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"read-someone-the-riot-act." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/read-someone-the-riot-act>.

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read-someone-the-riot-act. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/read-someone-the-riot-act

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