IdiomFood & Drink
English
Englishchew someone out
Meaning: To scold someone harshly.
Example: “The sergeant chewed him out for being late to formation.”
Equivalents in other languages
Portuguese: descer a lenha Literally: To come down with firewood
Origin: American military slang, first recorded in print in 1948 but almost certainly in use among servicemen well before that, likely as far back as the Second World War. Two theories compete for the image behind it. One points to the physical closeness of a superior shouting into a subordinate's face during a dressing-down, close enough that it could pass for chewing. The other reaches for the vigorous, aggressive motion of the jaw itself — the same idea behind "chewing someone's ear off" — applied to a scolding rather than idle talk.
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