To read the riot act
Meaning: To reprimand someone sternly.
Language: English
Literally: To read the riot act
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Britain's 1714 Riot Act was read aloud to order unruly crowds to disperse within the hour or face arrest.
Equivalents in other languages
- Icelandic: Að taka einhvern á beinið — literally: To take someone onto the bone
More idioms — Daily Life
- To pull out all the stops — To make every possible effort.
- To jump on the bandwagon — To join something only once it becomes popular.
- Sein blaues Wunder erleben — To get an unpleasant surprise.
- Fare il portoghese — To sneak in without paying.
- Rimanere in mutande — To be left penniless.
- Onde Judas perdeu as botas — In the middle of nowhere; the back of beyond.
More English idioms
- To give a wide berth — To keep well away from someone or something.
- To have egg on your face — To look foolish or embarrassed.
- To bury your head in the sand — To refuse to face an obvious danger.
- To bite off more than you can chew — To take on more than you can handle.
- Caught between a rock and a hard place — Stuck between two equally bad options.
- To show your true colors — To reveal your real character at last.
From our proverbs
- He that hires the horse must ride before. — The person who pays for something bears responsibility for using it first or bearing its…
- Better be a beggar than a fool. — Poverty with dignity and sense surpasses the shame of foolish wealth or status.
- A beggar can never be bankrupt. — Those with nothing left to lose possess freedom from financial ruin's fear.