have your guts for garters

1 9.9

Threaten someone with very serious punishment, often as a joke

idiom

Offensive

: destripar (a alguien)

You better watch out, or I'll have your guts for garters!

Examples

If the boss finds out about this mistake, he'll have our guts for garters.
If you keep making that noise, I'll have your guts for garters!
If you break his favorite mug, he'll have your guts for garters when he gets home.
She warned her little brother that Mum would have his guts for garters if he touched the cake again.
I'll have your guts for garters!
You better watch your step, or I'll have your guts for garters.
You think you can ignore my orders? I'll have your guts for garters if you do!

Synonyms

to read the riot act

vshave your guts for garters

Informal

1 7.9

To scold someone strongly and warn them of punishment

is more informal and often playful serving as a warning not a formal order

to have someone's head

vshave your guts for garters

Informal

1 9.1

To be very angry with someone and want to punish them

is more often a joking warning rather than a real intent to punish

to chap someone's hide

vshave your guts for garters

Informal

9.3

To scold someone angrily for something they did

is usually a warning used jokingly rather than an angry scold

to put one's foot in someone's ass

vshave your guts for garters

Offensive

9.9

To yell at or threaten someone to make them try harder

is generally a milder joking threat rather than crude or physical force

Antonyms

to forgive

∞ 1.4

To stop feeling angry at someone or yourself for a mistake

to pardon

211 3.0

To forgive someone for a small mistake or rude act

How Threatening

have your guts for garters

Offensive

1 9.9

to menace

19 4.6

to intimidate

294 4.9

to threaten

987 3.3

to warn

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

have your guts for garters main

Morphology

have + your + guts + for + garter

The violent, idiomatic sense 'threaten to punish someone severely' cannot be derived from the literal meanings of 'guts' (intestines or courage) and 'garter' (a leg band); the combination is metaphorical and historically specific British slang rather than a predictable composition. This opaque, culture-bound figurative image would not be obvious to a B1 learner who merely knows the constituent words.

Etymology

The idiom have your guts for garters paints a violent picture: one popular story says angry people spoke as if they would pull out your guts and use them as garters, which are bands for socks. So it came to mean 'to threaten or punish someone very badly'.