Riot Act
- noun
- UK
:
Ley de desórdenes
- After several warnings, the authorities felt it was necessary to read the Riot Act to prevent a full-scale disturbance.
Examples
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We must read the Riot Act and we must do so immediately.
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Quite a contentious NE corner, with NITS getting picked, and folks all RILED UP and getting read the RIOT ACT after they HAD AT IT, perhaps over some ILL-MADE item.
Blog text (26) -
The RIOT ACT survives in the phrase "read someone the riot act," which was once literally true on the street.
Blog text (26) -
19A: Old means of crowd control (RIOT ACT) -- Act of Parliament in force from 1715 to 1967.
Blog text (26) -
The police threatened to read the Riot Act if the protesters did not disperse peacefully.
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When the crowd became unruly, the mayor decided to read the Riot Act to restore order.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'riot' (violent public disorder) and 'act' (a law) transparently indicate a law concerning riots, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer it is a legal statute about riots. However, the specific historical/procedural sense (a former law requiring dispersal after a magistrate's proclamation) and its idiomatic use (e.g. 'read someone the Riot Act' = sternly reprimand) are not predictable from the parts alone, making full understanding contingent on exposure.
Etymology
Riot Act was a law in old England that let an official read a loud order to a noisy crowd to make them leave. The word riot means a noisy crowd and act means a law, so 'to read someone the Riot Act' came to mean giving a very strong warning or scold.
