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Glite Dictionary
to have several seats

to have several seats

9.9
Tell someone to stop talking or giving unwanted opinions
  • phrasal verb
  • Offensive
translation icon : callarse la boca
  • If you think you can do my job better, please have several seats.

Examples

  • The fans told the critic to have several seats after his harsh comments.

  • When he tried to interrupt the speaker, the audience told him to have several seats.

  • When someone challenges your story without proof, just tell them to have several seats.

  • You really need to have several seats with that attitude!

  • Does she really think she can just have several seats here?

  • The guests at the party told him to have several seats after he made an inappropriate joke.

  • She was being overly presumptuous, so I told her to have several seats.

Synonyms

to sit one's ass down
vsto have several seats
  • Offensive
11 9.9

To sit down, often said strongly to tell someone to calm down

tells someone to stop speaking or seeking attention rather than commanding them physically

Surface Forms

have several seats infinitive
had several seats past
had several seats past participle
having several seats present participle
has several seats third person singular

Morphology

have + several + seats

The literal meanings of 'have' (possess), 'several' (more than one) and 'seats' (places to sit) do not compose to the idiomatic imperative sense of telling someone to be quiet or 'sit down' in a confrontational way. This is a colloquial, culture-specific usage (variant of 'take a seat') whose pragmatic force and phrasing are not predictable from the constituents, so a B1 learner would unlikely derive the intended meaning.

Etymology

Have several seats is a rude way to tell someone to sit down and be quiet. One popular idea says it comes from the polite 'have a seat'; adding several and imagining someone taking many seats makes the order stronger, like sending them away. So it is used to tell someone to 'stop talking' or 'go away'.