tirer les oreilles
Meaning: To scold someone harshly or punish them.
Language: French
Literally: to pull the ears
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The phrase pictures a physical gesture of pulling someone's ears as a form of correction or rebuke, likely drawing on the practice of ear-pulling as corporal punishment.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- ne plus savoir où donner de la tête — To be overwhelmed with work or demands.
- avoir les yeux qui sortent de la tête — To stare with eyes wide open in anger or astonishment.
- faire baiser les verges — To force someone you have mistreated to beg your pardon.
- retourner l’estomac — To disgust or sicken someone, to make them feel nauseous.
- ne pas garder les yeux dans sa poche — To be observant and alert; to miss nothing.
- donner du poing sur la table — To express strong disagreement or disapproval with a situation.
More French idioms
- avoir de la tchatche — To be talkative and persuasive, to have the gift of gab.
- tomber à l’eau — To be canceled or abandoned.
- faire le pont-levis — For a horse to rear up very high.
- remonter plus haut — To begin a story or explanation at an earlier point in time to clarify or better illumina…
- être victime de son succès — To suffer problems or difficulties that arise as a result of becoming too successful.
- n’avoir qu’à bien se tenir — A warning or threat implying that one must behave properly or face consequences.