IdiomDaily LifePortuguese

descer a lenha

Meaning: To harshly criticize or scold someone severely.

Literally: To come down with firewood

Example: “A crítica desceu a lenha no novo filme do realizador.” — The critic chewed the director out over his new film.

English equivalent: To chew someone out

Equivalents in other languages

Origin: Lenha is firewood, and a stick of firewood was the nearest club to hand. Descer a lenha (to bring the firewood down) on someone was first beating them, and now usually means scolding or criticizing them harshly. The phrase is colloquial Brazilian Portuguese with no documented first use.

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Explore another collection: False Friends

Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.

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